Originally Posted by
Reb
Robert Kaufman's QuiltCalc for ipad gets 8.23 yards for backing. That is an 80 x 90 plus the 6 inch extra for shrinkage when quilted. Figure the top is the same - 16.5 yards. It sounds crazy to me but I've never made anything bigger than a lap quilt. Maybe someone else on the board can shed some light on this. Oh, I have a quilt pattern handy, 81.5 by 97.5 yep 13 yards for the top. 7/8 ths for binding and 6.5 yrds for backing. Now that happens to be for a pretty complex design which requires a wide variety of fabrics and shapes, so there would be more waste but even still. Other threads on the board have been discussing how surprised non-quilters are when told how much they are charging for their quilts. Well this quilter is surprised at the amount of fabric alone. Those selling bed size quilts probably aren't getting enough $ for them to make anything. You still have to quilt it and figure in some kind of payment for your time. Now I know why, many years ago I paid almost 1,000 for an Amish applique long queen. I bought it because I knew it was never anything I would make for myself. (and we had the $ at the time).
I think I've figured out part of the reason for the huge numbers: The long borders. They want you to cut all in one strip, right? So that means that for any border, you'll have yardage requirements of around 3yards. This will create a lot of "waste" or stash I guess, depending on how you look at it.
5 5/8 yards still seems like a lot even for the "main fabric" in the quilt though.
I know my cousin was shocked when I asked her about the yardage. I'm going to compare what EQ said to her Labyrinth quilt pattern tomorrow when I see her, which is the main reason I mocked it up. I wanted to see how accurate EQ is.
I did a quick cost calculation for the quilt:
13 yards at roughly $10/yd = $130
90" wide batting at $15/yd = $45
Backing of some sort, guestimated based on a poke around online = $50
Thread - almost negligible, but still worth calculating, especially if I quilt the grout = $15
So $240+ taxes without figuring time, travel, tears and temper tantrums... I feel like I really have to like the quilt pattern to take it on.
My cousin said a Josephine's Knot takes her 12 hours from start to finish. I think I could quilt it in about 4-6 hours on a good day. There's the time spent picking the fabrics out. Auditioning them, then deciding one color's not quite right...
Assume at -least- 20 hours into it.
What's your time worth? Selling the JK mentioned above for $500 would be $12.40 an hour. I'd say you paid fair market price for an amish quilt, might even have gotten a deal with the applique.
That said, I'm pretty tired of our plain black duvet cover, I need something to go with the wood bed frame, so I will definitely take on a queen of some sort, so I can say "Yes, I've done it" possibly followed with "No, I wouldn't do it again", who knows.
Originally Posted by
Reb
About the design. Repetition in block after block makes me bored with the project after awhile. That's why I've decided to work on smaller projects than lap sized quilts. Mostly wallhangings. I can be more creative with those too. Sounds like maybe we are similar with that. There are beautiful quilts out there and I can appreciate all that goes into them, but it isn't in me to make a queen sized quilt.
I remember when I finished the lap quilt I did. The ladies in our sewing circle laughed at me when I said I thought I might not do anything that big again.
That repetition is probably what pushes me toward the modern quilts, and to the things like the Labyrinths, the whole cloth, whitework, even the Hawaiian pineapple quilts, etc. Yes, there's repetition, but the design on a whole is less repetitive.
Originally Posted by
Reb
I keep forgeting to thank you for wokng up the numbers on the cost of thread. Makes me feel better about my switching from mettler to aurifil.
Oh! my pleasure! I'm glad it helped you out! I was really shocked when I realized how expensive Mettler and Gutermann really are. Better thread, no guilt. Does it get any better?