spokanequilter

I'm hoping to get a little advice from all you quilters. I have a friend who asked me about making a quilt for her mother (actually, one for her mother and one for her). Her mom has embroidered 50 blocks, each representing a state, and another 50, each one representing the state flower for each state. Whew!! That's a lot of embroidery! Anyway, her mom has always wanted to have a quilt made of each set of blocks, but doesn't know anyone who quilts or how to go about finding someone. So, my friend asked if I would be interested in making these quilts. I think they are wanting something simple, like sashing and cornerstones around the blocks, and then a border or two. I haven't actually committed myself yet, but I do want to look at the blocks and then decide. I think it might be a fun project.

My friend insists that she and her mom would pay me for making these quilts, which I guess is reasonable. My question is how much should I charge? I don't think it will be difficult, but will take some time, of course, to plan and make the quilts. Have any of you made quilts for others for which you were paid, and how did you go about establishing an amount to charge??

ckcowl

will they be supplying the fabrics for the sashings/borders/ batting/backing- or are you providing it?
will you be quilting & binding it or sending it out for quilting?
how large of quilts will you be making?
all of these plus probably more-need to be answered in order to figure out any kind of price.
if they are supplying all materials and you will only have time- then you need to estimate how long you think it will take- and how much your time is worth.
if you are supplying materials you need to figure in the price of materials-
i make & sell lots of quilts- generally i start at $350 for a queen and (adjust) from there- depending on circumstances and who it's for- some folks get a (family discount) sometimes i 'throw in' the quilting without charge- sometimes i charge out every penny- if you are supplying materials some people figure that cost & multiply by 3- then add in quilting charge ect. some people charge an hourly rate- but you need to know yourself- and how long it takes you to do things- sometimes- especially if its for a friend or family member- some people just throw out a number- like ' i can do that for about $100 ... then regardless of any issues that may arise that's what they charge-
start with looking at the squares- finding out about who's supplying what- estimate what you think it will take you- and discuss with your friend what seems fair and reasonable to both of you.

teddysmom

I don't think I would want to get into making quilts for other people. At that point it would seem to be a business and I'm enjoying doing my own for pleasure and relaxation. Don't need tension at this point in my life.

Mom3

I have no idea what to charge but I would caution that the embroidery should be pre-washed & color set before quilting. I would leave the pre-washing up to the person who did the embroidery that way if something happened it wouldn't be on your shoulders.

Shari

paulswalia

This is excellent advice! I recently saw a woman brought to tears over embroidered blocks her mother had made which she put into a quilt THEN washed it and the embroiderly floss ran.

As for charging, I occasionally make quilts for commission and have the customer pay for the fabric up front, then charge them $8.00 per hour for my work. I know that's not a lot, but it beats a set price per quilt that ends up giving me $2.00 per hour and I have a steady income for the family expenses so the quilt income allows me to purchase more fabric and supplies for my quilting.

Tartan

That would be a tough one for me. If they are really good friends, I wouldn't want to charge what it was really worth. I would give them a set price of $100 to make and machine quilt the quilt if it wasn't huge. I don't machine quilt huge quilts on my domestic sewing machine. Most people would even think you are price gouging at $100 if they are not quilters. I know that isn't very much but it is $100 you didn't have before and you can use it to buy more fabric.
P.S. they would buy the sashing fabric, batt and backing themselves so you would only have your labour.

GemState

If they are friends, as you say, and you really want to do this, I would keep track of the material I bought, and the time spent making the quilt. I would expect to be reimbursed for the materials and let them decide how much the finished quilt was worth to them...........but I am kind of a softie!!

katesnanna

When a mate of my husband whom I also knew, asked me to make him a quilt I had no idea how much to charge so I took the finished quilt to a couple of quilt shops. They each gave me a price of at least $500.00 but as he was a friend I charged him $300.00.

momto5

Most of the time ladies (and gentlemen), we don't charge nearly enough. I base my prices on what is included and how long it takes...I have charged as much as $1200 for an elaborate king-sized quilt, and as little as $75 for a plain baby-sized one. If it's a plain baby-sized one, I usually have gotten the fabric on sale for a really good price; I buy my batting on the roll when it's on sale only, and I buy thread wholesale. So I really feel like I charge a fair price both to me and to the customer. And I don't charge family members anything...because each one they get is a gift made for a special occasion.

spokanequilter

I am a softie as well.... I just think it might be fun to make these quilts, but my friend's mom wanted to pay me to do them. I think I'll take GemState's advice and let them decide what it's worth to them - at least for these since they are friends. If I were to make a quilt for a total stranger on a commission basis, it would be different.

Thanks for the advice all!!