From Hobby to Business: Our Chat with Tasha Haynes

In this episode of Quilting on the Side, host Andy welcomes Tasha Haynes, a passionate quilter who transitioned from a hobbyist to a business owner. Tasha shares her journey of starting quilting in 2015, the challenges of turning her passion into a business, and the importance of community in the quilting world. She discusses her experiences with selling patterns on Etsy and her personal website, the growth of her YouTube channel, and the balance of family life with her entrepreneurial endeavors. Tasha also offers valuable insights on lessons learned in business and the importance of focusing on one strong lead magnet for email lists.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Tasha Haynes and Her Quilting Journey
02:46 Transitioning from Hobby to Business
05:44 Navigating Sales Channels: Etsy vs. Personal Website
08:50 The Growth of Tasha's YouTube Channel
11:48 Creating a Supportive Quilting Community
14:53 Exploring Future Business Avenues
17:48 Balancing Family Life with a Quilting Business
20:51 Lessons Learned in Business
23:15 Rapid Fire Questions and Closing Thoughts

Connect with Tasha:

Membership: https://clubhouse.tashaquilts.com/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TashaQuilts 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tashaquilts/ 

Website & Blog: https://tashaquilts.com 

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Co-Hosts:

Tori McElwain @heytori.tech

Andi Stanfield @truebluequilts

Transcript

Andi (00:04.974)
Hello and welcome to another episode of Quilting on the Side. Just Andy here for the first portion of the hosting. Tori is busy with her family, but that's the beauty of these entrepreneurial journeys is that we can just make it fit our family life. So we'll give her a pass on this one. But I want to welcome Tasha Haynes to the podcast. We met Tasha, think because of the podcast.

I think so, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you were one of our early fans and we just roped you in and I have loved getting to know you over the last couple years with our shared love of YouTube as well and you know all your gorgeous quilting but this is all about you so tell us how you got started quilting and what led you to make it into a business.

Well, I got started quilting back in 2015. I had a sewing machine and I need to get out of the house to socialize and my husband was like, you know how to go make some friends. I, Facebook post came through with a woman that I used to work with at a hardware store and she was teaching a quilting class and I said, I've got a sewing machine. I can make a quilt. I'm gonna go give that a go.

And I guess they say the rest is history. was like, I loved it from the beginning and I have not stopped, slowed down a little bit when the kids were born and you know, or after that, but got right back to it as soon as they could independently play. And I would say, probably in 2024 is when I was like, maybe I could eventually turn this into something.

Tasha (01:50.894)
as somewhat of a side hustle. I'm not really in a hurry, but I thought, you know, that might be interesting to, to give it a go. I had tried like blogging in the past with different topics. So I wasn't like unfamiliar with the idea, but obviously it was like natural for me to take the thing that I'm obsessed about most and, and, and see what I could do or if I could do something with it.

Yeah, yeah, that's great. So what, what were your first steps into making money? Did you have someone say, that would be a great pattern? Why don't you put that out there? Or was it more just trying everything?

So it did start with a quilt that I designed for myself and I didn't actually it was ended up being the second pattern I wrote for sale, but it was the first pattern I designed and just made for myself. And I posted it in this wonderful Facebook group called Young and Millennial Quilters, but everybody's welcome. And they were like, I would buy that if you wrote that, I would buy that if you wrote that. And I was like.

Wow, you guys are hyping me up. And so I had seen like a pattern writing course start up and I was like, maybe I'll, maybe I'll give that a go. And so that's how that kind of came to be. And so I took a pattern writing course in January of 2024. I did the pattern writing Academy with Alderwood studios, which was like kind of, it was a nice way to just kind of get the ideas flowing and, figure that out all out. And then I did end up releasing that pattern and.

And then it just kind of snowballed from there.

Andi (03:24.622)
So tell us how you put the pattern out there. First of all, how did you write it? What software do you use to draft your patterns?

So I use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Premiere Pro. I think the first pattern I tried to write, I was using Microsoft Publisher, but then I found out they were retiring that software and then I would have to convert all of my quilt patterns and I was like, if we're gonna give this a go, let's kind of just go to what they say is industry standard. And I also knew that I was going to be like simultaneously, I was starting to dabble in YouTube. So I was like, well, I have the editing software, I'll have the Illustrator, I'll have...

InDesign, which is like there where you write the pattern. I ended up, think the first pattern I did was kind of a hodgepodge and then everything did get ended up converted into the Adobe suite of products. It is a little expensive and I've wondered if it's really worth it, but I really do like it. It's easy. So I've stuck with that. Um, yeah. So I wrote that first pattern in Adobe and, um, listed it for sale on

Etsy and then also I started a website. So I have Tashaquilts.com and then I also wanted to put it on Etsy just because there's that like population of people that always just search for patterns on Etsy only. And I wanted to make sure I was covering all my bases.

Right. And how has the mix been? Do you get equal traffic from those sources or do your sales come mostly from website or Etsy or?

Tasha (04:55.534)
So I would say when I first started, which was like, so since when I first started, and I guess your question originally was too, was like, how did I get it out there? Back when I first started writing quilt patterns and putting them for sale, I had nobody on Instagram, nobody on YouTube. I had no audience. There was like very peanuts of an audience. So in the beginning,

Etsy definitely, I wasn't getting tons of sales, but I was getting more sales on Etsy just because I was in that ecosystem and nobody cared to, you you don't have to know me to buy my pattern off Etsy. And as my YouTube presence, my email list, my Facebook and Instagram grows, now I would say my website is starting to, or it's definitely starting to outsell Etsy.

That's great. because that's, you know, everybody complains about all the fees and things on Etsy. So you definitely want to drive traffic to your own website when and if you are able to. that's

The other thing about Etsy is that you can't put those people on your email list. That's not allowed. So you sell to them, but then they're gone. It's a one-time thing. You never get them in your atmosphere. So getting them on your website is way better.

One tip, something I learned over the years from Etsy sellers is that you have that like one chance thank you email that you can send after someone purchases and you can drop your newsletter link there. And so as long as they visit your website to opt into your newsletter, you're safe, but you're right. You can't just like take this customer list and send them a bunch of other emails about other things. So.

Andi (06:38.272)
Yeah, Etsy does put the walls up a little bit around their stuff, but yeah, it's a great starting place. I'm glad you had success with that. So I mentioned that we are both YouTubers and tell us a little bit about how your channel grew and what drew you to the YouTube platform.

So I started writing patterns in January of 2024 and I, you know, I had designed that quilt. I loved making the quilts. And then I took the class and I wrote a pattern and I got it tech edited. And I was like, wow, this is a lot of work because I also wanted to put out like the best product I could. So I did get it tech edited and all these things. And I was like, this is not something with my lifestyle with working children that I can, I cannot pump out good quality quilt patterns and enough that it would be really

worth my while, like as a, you know, a primary focus and my poor husband who is the greatest man on earth. I would just talk about quilting with him all the time because I loved it so much. He was like the primary person I would chat to and he was like, I love you, but you know, how much quilting can one man take dragging them to quilt shows and stuff? So then I was like, you know what? I'm going to try YouTube channel and just talk to them about how much I love quilting and see if I can find people. So like, I think the first couple of videos I made were just like, Hey,

I'm making this quilt over the next three weeks or a month. I'm going to just talk to you while I'm making it. And I just ended up really, really enjoying it more than pattern writing, more than Instagram, more than blogging, more than any of it. And I would have never predicted that in the beginning that YouTube would have been what I ended up loving. But I do. I love it.

Yeah, that's amazing. Just a great example of trying it. You might like it and look where you've ended up there. So yeah, that's wonderful. So for our listeners, you definitely need to pop over to YouTube to take a look at the quilt behind Tasha. So tell us about that one because I've watched this

Andi (08:50.264)
come to life, but I definitely want to hear the story for everyone in our audience.

So thank you. love this quilt too. is so the quilt is called Pedals Crossing and it was my third quilt pattern that I released. so now I'm in the business of writing quilt patterns of quilts that I want to write. So I designed them that I want to make them and then I'll write the pattern. But that's pretty much the only quilt patterns I really plan on writing. this quilt took probably nine months from when I drew it up. Well, started drawing it up in Illustrator to when it

became a quilt, became a pattern. And then it's still not a full quilt. It's just a quilt top behind me. But yeah, so was just I like playing with shapes and obviously very much like curved piecing. So the quilt behind me is very colorful and it's very curvy. And those are two things that I really like to lean into.

Yeah, so it looks like almost every single block is either a quarter square triangle or a quarter square curve or the orange peel curve. yeah.

Only a couple rectangles in there, but yeah, you got to really be committed to the curve if you want to.

Andi (10:01.306)
Right? No, but it's gorgeous and the colors are fantastic. So how'd you decide on that color scheme? Because I've seen some of your other quilts are two color quilts and this one is just a wonderful blend of yellows, pinks, blues, the green leaves. It's gorgeous.

Yes, thank you. So yeah, my first quote was two colors. My second one was third and this three colors and this one's a lot of colors. And I would love to take credit for this color, but I use this website called Quilt Ink. And as a pattern writer, you can put your quilt patterns up on that website. And then people who want to make that quilt can go and color it for free. The quilt pattern writer pays a little fee. But the wonderful woman Catalina who runs that website, I had a

submitted this quilt with only a couple of colors and she was like, please, can I please give you some options because this color, this quilt just needs more colors. And I was like, yeah, like, of course. And so she gave me, I think three options. But obviously, I saw this one and I was like, yes, please. This is amazing. So yes, I will definitely be playing with color and maybe asking Catalina for some additional coloring help in the future.

Yeah, website, Quilt Ink is fantastic. I do a lot of recoloring through EQ8 because that's the software I use for designing quilts and it's pretty easy to play with color schemes. But in terms of sharing them with the public, Quilt Ink is fantastic. So thank you for that reference.

And the woman who owns an website, she is absolutely of a human being and she' either, you know, if you'r website or somebody who's work with and it's gre

Andi (11:58.956)
Yeah, and it's wonderful when we have these different pieces in the quilt industry that can come together and we can share and build each other up because obviously, quilting needs the designers, the designers need the coloring, and it works out great. So that's fantastic. And another endeavor.

that you are building into your business is a paid community. So tell us about your membership group.

Yeah, so I launched this membership group around the same time I launched this pattern. So the pattern that we were just talking about, that's behind me. And so it's kind of like, if you join the membership, you can get the pattern included kind of thing. I really wanted a place where I could take a community that's kind of off social media. So I don't need to scroll through sometimes the horrors that can be found on social media where we can just kind of go.

It's a very good vibes. Everybody knows if you're coming in, this is a good vibes only place. We're here to hype everybody up. That's like really my main motivation and quilting is I just want to everyone to love quilting so that everybody continues to quilt and this wonderful industry that we're in thrives. And so we just, you know, kind of set this place up and I had some people that came right over and it was amazing and wonderful to be supported in that way. And we.

have Zooms, you know, we're trying to get a little more regular summer stuff, but it's like every other week we'll just do a Zoom sit and sew. We have done like monthly challenges. So this month is a make your own challenge and everybody kind of set a goal at the beginning of the month and then you work on it and then we'll report back and cheer each other on at the end of the month. And so it's just a place where we can go and chat and talk about quilting and some life stuff too, but yeah.

Tasha (13:52.062)
And it's great. It's a great group of people that we're kind of cultivating over there.

Good. I'm glad that has worked out. What other avenues do you want to explore in your business? What's on the horizon for Tasha Quilts?

So it's funny when I started, because I'm an accountant by day and so I'm a CPA, I got my MBA, been around businesses and stuff my whole career, but never really been in charge of a business. And so when I sat down before I made Tasha Quilts, I came up with all these, what could all the revenue streams possibly be, whether I liked it or not? And YouTube was on there and I was like, low probability, but now it's probably going to be a good probability.

I just recently got monetized on YouTube. So that took me about a year and a year and like 15 months, I think I would want to say. And so hopefully, you know, a little pennies for MadSense will start coming in, which will be great. And then I would like to, you know, if I build enough following, there's obviously the potential there for, you know, brand deals and stuff like that. If, you know, affiliate income, stuff like that. I have started just, I had been kicking around the idea, but I kind of

Got the whim and just kind of went for it with a weekly podcast that I put out on YouTube, but then also put out on other platforms called Stitching the Dream. And really it's for me to talk about one, quilting and two, making a quilty business. The topics will vary in between all of those things. And it's really just a place for me to sit and gab without having to worry about video edits and everything else. It's just, hey, let's have a chat and I'm going to talk to you every Monday morning to get rid of my Sunday scaries because I know Monday someone might leave me a comment on a video.

Tasha (15:35.062)
And really what I just hope for that to be is like all of those funnels back to, you know, the YouTube channel and the membership to kind of just continue to create that community and, and kind of, and, and stay there. Other things that I would like to explore is that the website gets big enough to have like display ads from, web traffic, but I'm pretty far away from that. So, but that is something that's still in the background, you know, write some blog posts, get some people to visit your website and you could put display ads in.

Yeah, yeah. So you mentioned you have an MBA, so you've actually studied some of these, you know, business building type topics. Where else have you found good information to grow your business?

So I have found it, like you had mentioned, I found this podcast and through that podcast I've connected with you and with Tori and with other people who kind of were in your atmosphere. But then it's really been about connecting with people who are doing similar things. So in the pattern writing academy, I connected with some pattern writers and we have some things that we can bounce ideas off on each other.

On YouTube, I connected with Chris O'Neill from So The Distance and Fallon from Soviet Quilts. And if I, you know, I'm like, I'm thinking about this, they're always just willing to jump in and give me some advice. So I think it's really about finding people that, you know, you have to do the work yourself. But if you can find people around you that have like lived that life and can give you advice.

It's a great resource and of course as you may predict one of my favorite places to get information about this stuff is YouTube. If I have an idea I go to YouTube and you can find somebody talking about it.

Andi (17:25.195)
Yep. Who are some of the business folks that you follow on YouTube? You mentioned some of the quilters,

I mostly, the primary, there's Think Media that does a lot of YouTube stuff. And I'm going to butcher his name, but his name is Stu. And he does a lot of the membership stuff. Yes, that's the one. I don't know if he's primarily, if I see him on YouTube or clips of how I got into his bubble, but that is probably the, I bought his book and read his book and I'm sat in a couple of webinars. I haven't done like his course or anything like that.

I'm sure we are in.

Andi (18:01.358)
Yeah, when you said membership, I was like, okay, I know, yeah, you're right. Some of these big name business coaches are everywhere. So it's hard to say, did I see him first on Instagram or YouTube or what, but yeah. Good information out there and it's always interesting to hear who people are following for the information. So that's great.

You got me somewhere.

Andi (18:31.626)
We mentioned at the beginning the sometimes difficult aspect of juggling our family. How has your husband and your kids adapted to your quote business?

So they are, well, my son who is, both my kids are in elementary school. My son's going into third grade. He loves looking at my YouTube subscribers. He thinks it's just the coolest thing. He tells everyone everywhere we go, my mom's a YouTuber. We went to Hersey Park and he was like, mom, do you think anyone's gonna recognize you from YouTube? And just for those listening, I have like, I just hit 2000 subscribers. I am like a teeny tiny little.

Nobody. So it's just cute that he thinks that, but they kind of know like on the weekends, like after lunch, we'll have what's called quiet time. Everybody gets to kind of go, dad takes a nap. The kids get their tablets and mom goes downstairs to film a video. So everybody kind of knows that we've kind of built that into our routine. And today I was like, you know, mommy's going to go film a film podcast. So everybody's got to go to bed really good and you know, not throw any fits or anything. Right. So they kind of know what exists. They'll

They like watching the videos and my son thinks it's probably the coolest of everybody he thinks it is. the husband does take on a lot of, you know, like nighttime duties. Like if somebody gets out of bed tonight, he's handling it. So, but, you know, that's what a good supportive partner does.

Exactly, exactly. And we sure appreciate those, those guys in our lives that prop us up.

Andi (20:02.476)
Are the kids interested in sewing at all?

So my daughter is, she's definitely interested. has like a short, she just turned five, so she has a little bit of a short attention span, but she'll come down here and say, mom, can I use the pedal? And it is some of the scariest times in my life, but I'll let her use that pedal and start sewing. So I definitely hope we get a little, she'll go to quilt shows with me. My son actually, they'll sometimes fight. I'll like to take one kid with a local quilt show and they'll fight over whose turn it is. So sometimes I end up with two kids running around a quilt show, but.

But now he's kind of phasing out of it. He'd rather play Fortnite than hang out with mom at Quilt Shows, but she'll still come with me.

Yeah, yeah, that's fine. Well, wait a few years and your son may be interested in the power tool aspect of running the sewing machine. That's great. And I, as you were describing your daughter with the foot pedal, I was thinking back to when my daughter was little and she had a child size, like picnic table and folding chair. And so the chair was good. And then I realized that the piano bench

was the right size. So one day I set up the piano bench with her little folding chair and everything was just the right size that she could, I think she sewed a nine patch.

Tasha (21:19.116)
Cute!

Yeah, anytime we can get the kids involved in our hobbies and our businesses, it's good for them to see all these various things we can do. Anything else you want to tell us about your business and coming up? mean, you've got so much going on. It's amazing that busy people get things done.

Well, the key to getting things done when you're busy is not being a perfectionist You just have to get it done. So you have to kind of let that go That's how I get a lot done when people ask me how do you do it? I'm like I just get it 80 % of the way done and let it No, you know, that's kind of really I'll be focusing on the podcast the YouTube channel the membership that's what I'm looking forward to do I did take read Tori's book and I Went outlined a workshop through her recent book

Club and I'm going to try release an on demand curves course just because a lot of people who find me are like, I love those quilts when I'm scared of curves. So just, you know, something that they can nothing too crazy, but just enough to get you started and, know, kind of walk you through your first curve and, and, you know, approachable manner. Yeah. but there was one other, thing I wanted to share with the audience. If they're listening about, feel like my biggest mistake I made when I was starting this adventure.

And that was giving away too much stuff for free trying to build my email list. And so I had English paper piecing magnet leads and curved magnet leads and goal setting magnet leads and all of these things that I wish I had not done. And they're still out there and I'm trying to figure out how to manage them. Cause now I can't remember where they're linked to or where I talked about them. So I don't want to take them away if somebody's expecting them.

Tasha (23:09.56)
But I would say like before you go crazy giving stuff away for free, just give one good thing away. Like I should have just given my curve templates away for free and that should have been it. So I would caution, it's so exciting when you're building an email list to wanna like capture as many people as you can, but just come up with one good thing to be your magnet lead. Cause just administratively I'm like, I have so many links now.

And that was wonderful advice. And I'm gonna ask you to say it again, because we just had a really loud airplane go overhead and I want everybody to hear it. So the biggest lesson learned.

Yes, so my biggest lesson learned and the mistake I made that I wish I had not done when I was first starting out was I created many, many magnet leads trying to create my email list. So I started, had an English, I still have them all. I have an English paper piecing one, a goal setting one, curvy templates. I don't even know. I have foundation paper piecing ones. They're out there and it's just too many. There's.

too many different types, there's too many links to manage. I can't remember where all the links are. It's just, was too much stuff and I'm gonna be paying that price probably for literally ever until I'm brave enough just to delete the links and move on with my life. So come up with one good solid, like if you're the curvy girl like me, make a curvy magnet lead and that is it. Like, you know, that's it.

Yeah, yeah, I resemble that remark, because I have a ton of links to to free things to get on my email list, same thing. But yeah, it's and sometimes it takes a while to find what you want to be known for and what your thing really is. So if that if some of our listeners are juggling multiple lead magnets, know that you're not alone.

Andi (25:08.238)
But you're starting out, just keep sending people the same one thing. Yes, that's great advice. Well, Tasha, it's been wonderful hearing more about your story. And we always like to start or we always like to end our episodes with some rapid fire questions. But take it, it doesn't have to be fast. Take as long as you need to answer. start out with.

What is your least favorite color to use in your quilts?

Orange.

or orange.

I do. I did just buy some fabric from Libs Elliot. It's her. I'm going to say it wrong. Fantas, Fantasm collection and there's some oranges in there so I'm like we're going to do this.

Andi (25:56.428)
Yeah, yeah. Orange just, it's, yeah, it is a hard color. It's, I met very few people who that's their favorite, but it does, it does play nicely in a rainbow-ish quilt. But yeah. Are, do you like to buy and work with pre-cuts or yardage?

yardage.

Yeah, I thought that would be more controversial and it really isn't.

I've accumulated some pre-cuts, you know, like I've inherited them from some quilt guilds when they were like, here, take this. You're young, take it. You've got plenty of time left to make quilts or like I signed up for some sew sampler boxes when I first started quilting. And I've never made a jelly roll quilt. I've never made a layer cake quilt. I've just never gone down that road. So I plan on using some of the pre-cuts I have, but yeah, I I pick a project and buy some fabric usually nine times out of 10.

There you go. Whatever works. What is your favorite notion?

Tasha (27:01.11)
My favorite notion, and if anybody knows me who's listening to this, you know, I'm a broken record is I love the foundation paper piecing ruler by Soviet quilts. It is great for foundation paper piecing, but it's just this, you know, rectangular ruler with a handle with a quarter inch, you know, similar to add a quarter ruler, but it's got a handle on it. But I like it for marking lines on my half square triangles. And I don't know, you always.

can find something or like, is that a quarter of an inch? literally will use it to check my seam allowances sometimes. Like it's right there, it's handy, it's see through, and it was less than $20. Like what's not to love? Like I love that thing.

Yeah, that's I have seen a lot of people using that great recommendation and your favorite part of your business.

I would definitely say that my community, both like the paid community and the community that I've built on YouTube.

Yeah, yeah, that's great. I do have to commend YouTube if they're listening for the having the community posts now that other people can post on your channel. to get that interactive conversation going YouTube. Help us. us. Yeah, yeah, that's great. Airplane, hang on.

Andi (28:24.172)
I live really close to an Air Force base and the jets get really loud.

I thought my dog would bark or a kid would cry, but they've been good today.

Andi (28:39.158)
And we're like right under where they turn. So it takes so long for them to the noise to go away.

Andi (28:51.67)
Okay, Tasha, who is inspiring you right now?

Hmm. I would say like not a single individual person comes to mind, but I would say like it's just the collective of quilters. Like I when I'm scrolling through Instagram or walking through a quilt show, I'm just finding inspiration everywhere. There's just just all the quilters in general. It's inspire me all the time. Every day I see a quilt online somewhere where I'm like, dang, what a great idea. I'm like saving things like crazy out there.

Yeah, if only we could live enough long enough to bring these all to life. That's great. And you are in your sewing room so I'm expecting. We'll see how this next question goes. How many quilts are in the room with you right now.

Exactly.

Tasha (29:47.246)
So I would say between quilt tops and full-fledged completed quilts, there has got to be like 15, I would say, which isn't too bad.

Yeah, yeah, I've got all mine, unfortunately, tucked away in a closet.

I gave away a lot when I first started quilting, but we're starting to the point now where like every kid's got one in their room and then my daughter's got two in her room and then there's a few in the living, like they're starting.

Yeah, yeah. figure if you're a conservative quilter, you could make 12 in your house and then you could switch them out every month. If you're a prolific quilter, you may end up with 52 and then you switch them out every week. And if you're really, really obsessed, then you can go 365.

Right. What's controversial about me is I don't even have a quilt on my bed. I haven't made a quilt for my bed yet.

Andi (30:49.894)
Yeah, we have quite a few that are the size of our bed, but I'm in Arizona and it's like we don't need, you know, even in the wintertime, a thin blanket is just fine. So decorative. So yeah, I feel like I need a special bedroom just to pile the quilts on the bed for display. But that's great that that your kids both have quilts and you've got them around the house. So

Hang on. I'm going to yell. Kendra, I'm on recording.

Okay, well Tasha, tell us where everyone can find you.

Well, if you're looking for me, you can find me anywhere on the internet and just type in Tasha quilts on YouTube. I'm on Instagram, Tasha quilts.com, Pinterest, Facebook, you name it. I'm there. And don't forget my podcast, which is called stitching the dream, which is should be everywhere as well. But you have to look up stitching the dream.

Stitching the Dream on Mondays and Tasha Quilts everywhere else on the internet. It was wonderful to talk to you today. Thanks for spending time with us.

Tasha (31:59.928)
Thank you so much for having me.