Originally Posted by
Jan in VA
This could be incredibly valuable information to have when/if it came time to price your quilt for sale. If you didn't even charge for materials for the quilt, would you be willing to work for less than minimum wage - about $7.25 as of 2009 - making your income from the quilt $232? I personally wouldn't do it for less than $12-15 per hour for labor, or $384-$480. And that doesn't include fabric, batting, thread, and other supplies!
You can see from this one example how too often we undervalue our work!
Jan in VA
Jan- You're absolutely right. While I've read many threads on this same topic, I just today had my first "customer" who wanted to purchase my Blooming Nine Patch. Since she's a good friend, I gave her a "point-of-reference" as to what amount of fabric & price per yard, batting, and thread and then said that since I'm new (but somewhere past new-bee I think now), that I would low-ball my labor for her. The B9P took me over 40 hrs to complete, and I gave her a fixed price of $50 over the cost of materials, which still brought the quilt in at just under $200. Yes, do that math, and I gave her a labor cost of $1.25/hr.
I don't plan on doing this for a profession; only enough to make back my cost plus a little. I enjoy making them, so don't consider it "work" and therefore, the fixed-price-for-a-friend works...FOR NOW. Fortunately, she has a relative who quilts, so DOES understand what goes into them, but I'm pretty sure that even the $200 price shocked her.
If and when I ever get to a point where my quilts are more precisely pieced, I'll price higher, and will always provide a Time & Materials invoice to my customer with a copy of the yardage requirements for the quilt.
Edit to add: I never ever intend to intentionally 'undercut' those who are selling their quilts at a higher (and definitely more REALISTIC price)...I'm only factoring in my 'novice status' into my current pricing. I do hope to reach a skill level where I can price my quilts competitively and not ruin the market for those of you who are already WAY better than me at this.
@ Irishgal- You were smart to do a journal. It gives us a better idea of what we're really putting into our quilts.