I've been making quilts for years and always get 50% down before I start. The 50% is a non-refundable deposit. The only quilt that didn't get paid for was a t-shirt quilt for a cancer survivor that passed away from an adverse reaction to a chemo treatment! I can understand the family's reluctance to pay for a quilt that will forever remind them of the wife and mother they lost! But the deposit covered all my material expenses so I'm only out the labor. I donated the quilt to a local breast cancer survivor hospice!