Meet Chris Batten of Looped Quilting Studio

Each month in the Longarm League, we hold a coaching call with one of our members to talk about their business. This month I sat down with Chris Batten of Looped Quilting Studio. You may remember meeting Chris last fall, when I talked with her and Erin Case of Birch Tree Creative about the benefits of working with a Virtual Assistant.

I always love getting the chance to have follow-up coaching calls with our members to chat about how their business has changed and evolved since the last time we talked, and look at where they want to go next in their business, and my call with Chris was no exception.

In our latest discussion we covered a range of topics including the history of her business, changing her service offerings, work / life boundaries, and the freedom of shedding false expectations of who she needs to be on Instagram.

While League members have full access to the recording of the call, we asked Chris to share with our blog readers some of her hard-earned advice on a couple of the topics we covered on our call.

Without further ado, let's say hello again to Chris...

Chris Batten, Looped Quilting Studio

Located: Portland, OR
In business: 5.5 years
Machine and software: Innova
In Longarm League: 2.5 years

Where to find Chris:
Website: https://www.loopedquilting.com/
Instagram: @loopedquilting

Best way for someone to contact you for quilting?
Fill out my intake form on my website.

Tell us a little about your business and the services you provide at Looped Quilting Studio.
I provide digital edge to edge quilting. I enjoy getting to know my customers so that I understand their unique preferences. My goal is to return their quilts completed in a way that reflects their style not mine. I cater to both professional quilt pattern designers and newer quilters alike and strive to treat each quilt as the work of art that it is.

What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to change the services they offer in their business?
My advice to someone that wants to change the services that they offer is, this is YOUR business, you are the boss. If something is not working, you can change it. Your customers will understand and it helps if you can refer them to other longarmers that do offer that service. Sure, you are "losing" business. But if you are ultimately no longer happy doing it, in the long run is it really a loss, especially if it frees up time for the more enjoyable parts of running your business.

How has your new approach to social media changed your feelings / attitude about posting on Instagram?
I used to view social media as something that I HAD to do. It felt like a chore. I also felt like I was bad at it: I didn't post enough, my photos weren't "on brand" nor were they cohesive. When I attempted beautiful quilt photos, it just didn't feel like me. I am a huge goofball, so why was I trying to appear so polished? Once my posts started to reflect who I really am, posting became fun.

What have been your most-used pantographs lately?
My most used pantographs have been Raindrops on Water by Three Sisters and Marmalade.

Thanks so much for talking with us this month Chris! If you missed our original blog post with Chris, you can read more about her and her business here.

If you'd like to watch the coaching call with Chris or are interested in being a guest, we'd love to have you join us! You can learn more about membership here. And if you're interested in starting your own longarm quilting business, check out our Rookie Season course! You can see all the details, read about how the course has helped previous students, and get started here.