Quiltingboard Forums - View Single Post - question for LA quilters and their customers

08-01-2011, 03:13 PM

#8

Buckeye Rose

Super Member

Join Date: Jan 2011

Location: Monroe, IN

Posts: 2,283

Quote:

Originally Posted by MellieKQuilter

Quote:

Originally Posted by charismah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bottle Blonde

I have been doing research about LA service prices. I am finding the majority of LA quilters charge by the inch, and this amount is subject to how dense the quilt is to be stitched. Such as .01 for open meander, .02 for medium, .03 for dense, .04 for custom designs, so forth and so on. Then there are extra charges such as $10 to seam the backing, $10 to square the quilt top, $30 to add borders, $8 to press the quilt top....(these are just rough amounts, I'm not quoting any professionals pricing here)

Well, it all gets a little confusing, so this is my question. Do any LA quilters -- that you know of -- charge a flat hourly rate? If not, why not? If you are a quilter that hires LA service, would you rather pay an hourly rate? If so, why? if not, why not?

Very few LA quilters charge a flat rate according to the size of the quilt. Is it unwise to charge ---- say $50 to LA quilt a crib size?

I have come across a few LA machine owners that rent time on their machines. Do any of you do that? Is it profitable?

Thanks for your help, I appreciate your comments. :)

HI,
I may be able to help you on some of your questions. I am a LAQ. I think as far as charging an hourly rate....in most cases it is fair to the customer to charge by the size of the quilt...rather than hourly because every quilter works at their own pace. Some quilt slow...some quilt fast.
It is the same for renting a long arm...I just bought my second machine...I will rent it out to quilters...I would rather charge by the size of the quilt and just give the person however much time they need (within reason)..so they aren't racing to get their quilt done...I want them to feel happy with their own results and enjoy the process. Some may quilt fast...some others may not.

I think some quilters actually do charge a flat rate...for certain sizes...but it is usually for a specific type of quilting...like pantograph quilting or E2E ...that sort of thing.

I hope that helps.
C

I forgot to say...I don't think renting out time on my machine will be profitable....maybe I am wrong. I mean I would have to rent lots of time out on it and you have to take the time to help load it...thread at and roll the quilt. I am hoping to rent it out to people who will not need me as much...but in the beginning there will be a few. So I guess what I am saying is I am not experienced enough to know if that is really all that profitable...but I haven't herd that it is.

I wish you lived closer... I would be a repeat customer for the rental you are adding!

me too!

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