R.P.L.O.T.N. supports its Member Businesses !!

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 If you are an RPLOTN member and have a business you are welcome to submit your information to: Webmaster@rplotn.com
Introducing RPLOTN quilter Karen Berkman...(Kook!)

I have been in business for over 16 years. I got started with making finished products for customers. I have customers from all over the world who have ordered custom quilted items from me. 

A new gift shop/antique store opened in town and she contacted me to have my bears and some quilts in the store when she opened and soon I was purchasing bolts of fabric to use for myself - that GREW!!! LOL

I love to sew and have considered a storefront but I don't want to give up my time sewing to be running a storefront. 

I joined the RPLOTN back in 1995/96 sometime and use the chat name Kook/MN. I don't get into the chat room as much as I used to but do enjoy popping in every once in a while in the evening. 

Visit Karen's site at:

www.karensquiltstudio.com
The Chicken Tree - hand dyed fabric ~ Miss Diane

The Chicken Tree had its humble beginnings in October 2003, but I have been dyeing fabric since 1996. I am the owner, designer, and hand dyer.

 
I have lived in very small towns for most of my married life. When I would need quilting fabrics or supplies, I would have to drive as far away as 2 hours- one way. Then I would only have the one small, rural quilt shop and not a big selection. I started dyeing fabric out of necessity. I needed certain colors that I could not find. I took a dyeing class in that quilt shop 2 hours away. I didn't make very pretty fabric at first, but I was hooked!

 

Most days, you will find me making beautiful fabrics. Whenever I rinse the fabric, it is like Christmas morning. I never know exactly what I will see and I love it! I hope you will love it too.

Visit  www.thechickentree.com

Miss Diane gave our first "lecture series" - visit the chat notes at: http://www.rplotn.com/Lecture1.htm

 


 
Designs By Kasey ~ Willo44


Willo44
 I have been quilting for near 20 years now and sewing for what seems like all of my life.  I work part time at a local quilt shop and teach at several quilt shops as well as lecture and teach for many guilds in the area.  I have my own pattern line and have been published three times with my own unique method of appliqué.   I have a lovely sewing room where I can be found when I am not running around teaching.

 

I have launched my own website.       www.designsbykasey.com

2006 - UPDATE!!

Also, I am starting to make Custom Quilt Labels on my Pfaff 2170 Embroidery. There is a new button on my site, still a work in progress. 

 
RAPID GRADE ~ Phyllis/WA


Phyllis/WA - hard at work

AN update from Phyllis/WA: January 2007.

My company, RapidGrade, Inc., is slowly recovering from several snowy days and the normal winter slump. It is hard to juggle kids and business but it is easier now that I have merged with a company in Salem, OR. Their owner, who also their dispatcher/scheduler, has taken the phones and is scheduling my drivers here in this area. If I need extra trucks she is able to send me one or two of hers. She has 5 and I have 3 and sometimes one of mine goes south to her. I still do the billing, payroll and all the administrative and clerical parts of my company. I hired a high school girl to come in 2-3 days a week to do filing and review the rock bills (the rock, sand, gravel and dirt we get from all the different rock pits in the area).

Here is a picture of me with one of 3 trucks I own for the business, RapidGrade, Inc.
 
I bought Rapid Grade March 23, 2004 after incorporating it Jan 2, 2004 and going through all the legal hoops and paper work for a Small Business Loan.  My oldest son had worked for RG for 2 years and was also their mechanic.
 
In May, 2004, I hired a third driver and in October bought a third truck.  In June, 2005, I hired another driver and my son became a full-time mechanic.
 
Our trucks deliver and place rock, sand, gravel and screened top soil by an articulated arm that has a conveyor system built into it.  The arm "rests" on the passenger side of the truck and is 20 feet long.  When the driver is at the job site he uses joy sticks to move the arm to the rear of the truck and engages a motor which drops the product onto the arm .  The arm can swing back and forth and/or up and down.  With conditions being right, the driver can "shoot" the product 40-60 feet.  The belt is "v" shaped so the product doesn't spray or go anywhere the driver doesn't want it to go.  They love being able to move the truck forward or backward with the joy sticks.  "We actually get paid to play with remote controlled trucks"!!
 
We do sidewalks, highway shoulders, foundation fills, swimming pool bases, play grounds, raised garden beds, retaining wall back fill...almost anything that the customer wants.
 
Our customer base is about 80% contractors and 20% home owners.  All three trucks go 5 days a week with 1 or 2 on Saturday.  I have a scheduler/dispatcher who works in the office with me and I get to do all the other fun stuff...like pay bills, and worry about money!  We pay every-other-Friday and bill our customers on the 20th of each month.
 
Since I bought the business I have implemented the use of credit cards to pay for our services and also offer a discount for payments received before the 1st and add on a penalty for those bills 30-60-90+ days in arrears.  There are days when I wonder "what was I thinking" and other days, when I see the trucks go by me on the freeway or I visit a job site, that I remember!
 
I don't like all the legalities...taxes, reports, licenses, bonds, but most of the time it is worth the effort.  I have no idea how long I will stay in charge, but for now, it is great fun, very rewarding, and keeps me out of mischief...and out of the sewing room, unfortunately!
 
I am teaching a beginning quilting class at my church and that helps keep me grounded.  I attend two quilt guilds, one the 1st Tues of each month and the other the 2nd Thurs of each month as well as Quilt-til-you-Wilt the last Friday of each month. 
 
My grandkids keep me busy, too.  Three of them are only about 45 minutes away (10, 9, 6); two are 2 hours away (16, 11).  When I visit the 1st Tues guild I stay with my son, wife and two grandkids over the weekend and until Tuesday morning.
 
You can check out my web site at www.rapidgrade.com for more pictures. 

 
Wendy's Quilting  ~ Wendy/ON

20 years ago I made my first "quilt".  It was from a simplicity pattern, every second block had embroidery. I followed all the directions but couldn't figure out how to bind it with their directions...so its not really finished but all 4 of my girls used it. Over the years I've self taught myself to quilt and also taken classes. I've taught many others to quilt too and so far my youngest is the most interested. I've spent the last year Longarm Quilting which has enabled me to finish up a lot of my ufo's. 

Most importantly though my Longarm has enabled me to be at home again to be a stay at home mom. Home is where my heart is.

Let me help you finish your quilts !

 

Wendy aka in the past as "sara-on"  now known as Wendy-ON

My website is a work in progress www.wendysquilting.com

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