Bree123

Actually, if bear is showing quilts to non-quilters, I think that's important. It helps educate the public about what goes into our craft so they don't keep believing that $35 for a twin and $50 for a queen quilt all pieced and quilted by hand by an award winning quilter, as you sometimes see on Etsy, is Fair Market Value. That barely covers the thread & needles.

I had a friend recently who admired how beautiful my niece's quilt top is & said she would like to buy one from me for her son & said "whatever it cost" for materials and my time would "be well worth it". I thanked her for the sweet compliment & then explained that my hand appliquéd quilts are for the high-end market and usually go for $600-800, but that if she wanted, because she is like a sister to me, I could make a quilt for her son at cost but it would still be $100-125. She quickly agreed knowing the quality of my workmanship, but was amazed at the cost of fabric, batting & thread. I can't afford to lose money on the supplies so I truly will itemize everything and ask her to pay me up front (and get her to sign off on the design and midway progress with clauses that each signature reduces the amount of a refund she'll get for the materials. Good fences (or contracts) make for good neighbors. And helping non-quilters spread the message that quality homemade quilts are not priced as disposable goods. The materials are costly and the work involved is extensive. I'm always grateful when my fellow quilters communicate that to the general public.

Thanks for helping ensure that quilters & our art is appropriately valued, bearisgray!