I’m Lindsey Kleinschmidt, owner and operator of Mist Flower Quilt Studio. I’ve been piecing and longarming quilts since 2004.
I’ve always been creative, trying my hand at writing poetry, cake decorating, painting and needle crafts. It wasn’t until I married into a quilting family that I found the perfect outlet for my creativity.
After seeing the lovely quilts made by my husband’s mom and grandma and being gifted one of these for our wedding, I asked my mother-in-law for a sewing machine for Christmas so I could “make one of those quilt thingies”.
She did, indeed, buy me a sewing machine but I had no idea how to use it and she lived six hours away…..so I signed up for a quilting class at my local community college.
Unbeknownst to me, because I didn’t even understand the course description, this turned out to be a hand piecing class. So, I graphed, traced, snipped and hand stitched my way through my first quilt top. A feat which I am still very proud of!
After that, I was hooked on quilting. And yes, I did eventually learn to use my sewing machine.
Getting Hooked on Gammill
For many years, each quilt top that I pieced was packed up on any trip we made to visit the in-laws. My mother-in-law had a Gammill Classic longarm and I quilted all my own quilt tops from the very beginning--and I had no idea how lucky I was to have access to such an incredible machine!
Fast forward about 10 years, dozens of quilts and two kids later and I finally got my own Gammill Statler Stitcher. A dream come true!
I’ve owned my machine since 2014 and in that time I have spent many hours honing my craft through educational programs, studying the quilting industry and connecting with others in the field.
I have built a client base slowly over the years while enjoying time with my family as a stay-at-home mom. Now that my kids are older, I consider myself a work-from-home mom as I have time to focus more on my business while the kids are at school.
I love making quilty friends and quilting for others has been a great way for me to do that. My clients really do become friends! I love seeing what they are working on and sharing pics of my recent finishes.
I still love making and gifting quilts to my family and friends. I have quilts displayed in every room of my house and stacks of UFOs and WIPs just begging for attention. I am active in my local quilt guild, serving as the VP in the 2020/2021 guild year. Quilting is my hobby as well as my job and I truly love every aspect of it!