We can talk all day about quality work, what people should pay, what louts those cheap folks are and how we/she could/should/would do it. But it comes down to.....she's not selling the product she has. No one is buying at the price she is asking.
She has three choices: She can quit trying to sell her t-shirt quilts and find something else to do. She can look for a new audience for her product (Is there an audience for a high quality t-shirt quilt?). She can modify her product to meet the local demand.
If it takes 26 hours to complete her quilt, then at the (not too extravagant) wage of $10.00 per hour, she starts out with a $260.00 quilt. To that, add quality materials, then equipment and equipment upkeep (long arms don't come cheap), and already you're up to at least a $400.00 quilt. $400.00 for a quilt is a lot of money for most people.
You have to have a product you can produce for a price people are willing to pay.
Being in business for yourself is not easy.
bkay