Originally Posted by dunster

I have a different take on it. If you're not making quilts as a business, you are probably doing it because you enjoy the process. Once a quilt is finished, the money for fabric has been spent and the time you spent making it is gone, never to be recovered. It would be nice to be able to sell the quilt for what you have invested, but it's rarely possible to do so. After all, if everyone could get paid a reasonable wage for indulging in their hobby, how many people would have outside jobs? When a quilt is finished, you may decide that you would rather have a little money (to pay rent, buy food, pay for insurance, help out a relative, donate to charity, buy more fabric... whatever) than keep the quilt. You're not really selling your quilt-making services, as you would be doing if you were making a quilt on consignment. Instead you're exchanging an already-made quilt for some money. It may not be a good deal from a business sense - but you still may feel that you're better off with the money than with the quilt. I don't think it cheapens your labor, which you actually spent doing something you loved. And I don't fault people who don't see the value we do in quilts. It's our hobby and obsession, not theirs.