judithb

JJS: This is well said. I pay a lot more than that prices quoted here for quilting alone. The work is excellent. I give my quilts away, no way could I sell them. One quilt was appraised for $1,800 and I donated it to a college for their scholarship fund raffle. Now I am mostly making "quilts for kids". They are fun to make, I can practice my freehand quilting and I know they are appreciated.There are many excellent artists and quilt makers/teacher out there and I applaud them. I just want to enjoy making them. If I had to haggle over the price and explain myself, it would take all the fun out of it.
I also did this with stain glass and sewing.

Lyn

My LQS has some gorgeous quilts with beautiful quilting on them. A man came is at Christmas and wanted to buy one for $20. When told the price the man walked out shaking his head saying he would go to WalMart.

FAYE

We no longer teach our children & grandchildren the art of crafting, they missed having have got the satisfaction of having created something....the world is in a cycle of "get it now..cheap". These people are to ignorant to see a hand crafted, quilt & its many layers of time & work to produce a finished product,& spend the $, & have something to pass on to someone else

mrsj82

It's so validating to hear all of your opinions! I am so relieved to hear that I was not out in left field with the estimates I just wrote up! :-) I think I will "charge" $10 an hour for my labor so that they see when I actually only include about $50-$100 for my labor they are getting a STEAL!

Hopefully the real customers out there will come to me...I just have to find a way to get my name out there.

Thanks for your awesome support!

dmackey

I recently made a cheater quilt for a charity raffle. Many people loved it and asked me to make them a quilt. I did happen to find a gorgeous fabric by Fabric Traditions with gilding on it at Walmart for this quilt and it looked like it was pieced. I told them I would do it for $10 per hour labor, but we would shop together for the materials and here is the list I gave them with an estimate of costs they could expect to incur.

Supplies:
Cheater fabric, 2yds @$5 a yd at Walmart (no cutting, will be center panel)
2.5 yds each of two border fabrics @$5 yd each
$10 for batting on sale at Joanns (could be $20 as I will only use Warm and Natural)
5 yds @$6 yd for Kona Cotton backing/binding not on sale
$50 rental fee of Long arm quilting machine
Labor:
approximately $50 to make quilt top, wash, iron, cut, and sew top
$50 for 5 hours of quilting on Long Arm (my time and it's and estimate)
$30 for three hours of cutting, pressing, and sewing on binding by hand and final wash.

So, for $125 for supplies and $130 for labor, they can have a quilt for $255. EVERYONE CHANGED THEIR MIND. But of course I asked them if they would rather do a custom quilt with piecing for a starting price of about $800 if the cheater quilt was not good enough! LOL!

They will either learn to appreciate the value of what goes into a quilt or learn themselves to make them!

I make quilts with lots of love in them and for me that is what makes them priceless! I probably will never sell a quilt because I'm too busy making them for family as gifts, soldiers I want to wrap in love and appreciation, and worthy charities for fundraising.

Diane

anglgrl

There are some people out there that have some brains and wouldn't dare act like that. Just stick to your price and intelligent buyers will come along who appreciate your work and is willing to pay it without grumbling.

judyjo

People do not understand how much it costs in time and labor to make things. My friend and I made small quilted items (pillows, bags, table runners, ornaments, etc) for the church fair. We price them ourselves and tell people who are running the fair NOT to reduce the price at the end of the day. We would both rather give them as gifts to someone than to sell them for less than they are worth.

judyjo

anglgrl

I agree Judyjo I much rather give it as a gift than reduce the price.

hapytlk

uh..dear you ARE giving them Walmart prices! Your pricing is VERY reasonable. Maybe you can have them come over for the pricing..bring their quilts and you show them what it is you are charging them for??! I don't know that I would give quotes over the phone. Not sure what you can do. You are not charging too much..that is for sure!~

brendadawg

IMHO, your price is low. You wouldn't really be getting much for all your time and hard work. Problem is, people think because they can buy an imported "handmade" quilt for 19.99 at Walmart, that we ought to give ours away also.