I would give her the pattern requirements and have her buy the fabric, batting and backing with a little extra of each fabric. She can buy it over time if she wants to use coupons. Once she has all the materials you will make the quilt. $15 an hour sounds fair. I have had a couple of people ask me to make a quilt for them, when they find out how much fabric is, even with coupons, they change their mind. She probably has no idea how long it takes to make a quilt. I would give her an estimate of the number of hours it takes to make a quilt that size, telling her it may take longer than the estimate.

I agree this sounds like a great idea!

Hopetoquilt...your suggestion to have the customer shop for fabric with you is probably the best idea I've seen put forth on this board regarding custom quilting! It makes so much sense. As a matter of practicality it may not always be possible but it sure would put to rest most opportunity for "sticker shock" or almost any misunderstanding of costs involved. Thanks for posting.

I'll be watching this thread as have just been approached about making a quilt from scratch to be finished by early March. This lady obviously doesn't have any idea what goes into making a quilt plus she wants it queen size in toile fabrics which I have none. I'm sure when I throw a price at her she'll reconsider having it made plus I just don't know if I could finish it in time due to health issues.

lol. there is some good advice here! I definetly would discuss supply costs and labor up front. $250 is a lot not including labor. get at least 1/2 up front; and have her to pay the balance in full when you complete the project.

whenever someone asks me to make a quilt, always throw out around $500. If they don't die from sticker shock, then we talk specifics. Most people don't get passed the price. I've been asked to make a t-shirt quilt and I immediately throw out $300. When they balk at the price since they're providing the shirts, I tell them to look online and that's the going price.

Yes, it is a "for real" thing that people just do not understand the cost (and time) involved in making a custom made quilt. Some really good advice has been offered here; my favorite being have her go shopping for fabric with you--and if possible, take along the pattern that you will be using which will show her the yardage, etc. to provide you with. And be sure that she likes the pattern--some folks cannot picture the quilt in their preference of colors (that is, if your pattern is set together in a different color scheme)--I have had this happen to me recently in a custom made quilt order--she gave me full license to make whatever I wanted to in her color scheme. I agonized over that for a month before I could even start to select colors and fabrics. But she got the quilt last week, called me tickled pink with her quilt, and the check is in the mail......

I made a t-shirt quilt for a friend's son. It was 20 t-shirts and that turned out to be almost a queen size quilt. There were sashings, bindings and cornerstones, the t-shirt stabilizer, the batting, thread and since I didn't have a machine that FMQ'd I ended up buying a newer machine for $140. which I love! My friend bought all the fabric, thread, and the stabilizer which we ended up needing a lot more than we bought and I had the batting already. I think she spent close to $80. It was a really big quilt when it was done, and I wouldn't make another one that big again on my small machine. In return, she gave me to give to my daughter who was moving into her own rental home, a washer/dryer, a cabinet full of Disney library VCR tapes, a portable color TV w/a built in VCR player, and a 6.5' tall solid wood bookcase. All of these things she gave me were in storage and she didn't want them anymore. Everything works perfectly. I think we both got a great deal.

Thanks for all your input. I think that I will give her a look at the prices of the materials and the patterns I have picked out. I can say that my mouth will be in check the next time I am asked. This has had me stressed out for days!

What is a BQ2 pattern, have not seen it mentioned before.
Thanks