Contract
 

Hello all!
I am new to the boards and just love reading and learning from all of you!! I have been contacted by someone wanting me to make her a t-shirt quilt for her daughters graduation in May. I am wondering if any of you use or know where I might find a contract that I can use if our ideas mesh and things work out. I just want to make sure I don't forget anything that might be important!
Thanks for your help!
carrie

I agree with Tartan, most do not realize how expensive it is to make a quilt.

Here's one similar to what I use.

Jan in VA

Contract for reproduction of Log Cabin Quilt for Mr/Mrs. -----------------
By Jan _______________ May 2012

Quilt will be approx. 96” square, 6 x 6 block setting with three plain borders. Fabrics will be blue prints, 100% cotton or cotton/polyester blends, similar to the original prints.
I will make every effort to locate fabrics at the best low price I can.

The quilt will be machine pieced and machine quilted with a cotton natural-colored thread.

The backing fabric will be a white or light print or plain fabric.

The batting will be light weight polyester at customer’s request.

Customer understands that there are other commission works to complete in front of their order and that it may be 3-4 months before this quilt can be delivered to them.

The cost of this quilt will be approximately:
Fabric: approx. $125 (Approx. 15½ yards total for front and back)
Thread: $2.50
Batting: $20-25
Labor: $500 (includes: shopping for similar-to-original fabrics, cutting fabrics for sewing, piecing blocks, piecing/applying/mitering borders, hand basting l ayers together, quilting, applying binding to front and back of quilt, washing and drying, delivery of quilt)
Total cost expected to be approx. $650 or less depending on the cost of fabrics and the batting I can locate for this quilt.

Signature of Customer_________________________________________ 5/12 2012

Signature of Quilter___________________________________________ ____ 5/12/2012


Deposit Paid____________ Date_________ Balance Paid___________ Date_________

Jan’s contact information:
email - phone -

If asked to make an item I ask the people to buy their own material and I will put it together. Other quilting friends usually have no problem paying . These people don't like doing bags or small folding projects. They pay for a class for me at our local group. This works very well for me as I love going to the meetings and if someone else pays can go an extra day.

Jan has provided you a great contract. Keep in mind for a t shirt quilt, you will need to back all the t shirts with a non-woven interfacing, which will add to your costs.
Also, if you google t shirt quilts, there are lots of sites that come up that offer this service. Might be able to get some info there.

Thank you all for your help! I greatly appreciate it!

Jan this is awesome! Love it!

Jan, I love your contract! How do you find fabric, thread, and batting at such a low price? Guess that's why I give all my quilts away. I could never make a quilt for only $650.

I just finished two t-shirt quilts. One is double bed sized and the other is queen sized. The professional long-arm work cost more than $250 total for both. The sashing, borders, backing for both, and non-woven fusible backing for t-shirts (with much cut off, therefore, wasted) required lots more $$. T-shirt quilts are more expensive than a customer may realize, so I recommend a contract like Jan's too. Good luck to you! Get it in writing with a signature and at least 1/2 the total estimate.

I should have made it clear that THIS particular contract was with a customer who wanted a 1970s quilt replicated. They were quite elderly and not interested in a quilt "lesson" on fabrics, battings and so forth. We agreed that I would NOT be able to give them a good quote until I'd "shopped" for the fabric; I took about 6 weeks to do this part of the process. Then I wrote the contract, mailed it to them, asked for them to sign it and send the deposit, and return it to me for my signature. I sent them a copy, then started on the quilt

I knew I would have to raid the stashes of a few friends who have been collecting since the early 1980s like me, and I'd would also be able to use some of the Keepsake fabrics from the lower end at Joannes to "match" the fabrics in their original old quilt. I also found fabrics on $4-5 sale at a couple of places online that allowed me to keep the overall cost down. They asked for a polyester batting (I gagged and choked - haven't used it in years!) and I found that on sale as well. I was able to pass most of this discounting on to them.

Usually I would be charging approx. $11-13 per yard for fabric.

Sorry I wasn't clear; but, please modify this form to suit your own situation!!

Jan in VA

Well your contract Jan certainly gives us great guidelines as to what should be included in the price, etc. Thanks for sharing...

Great contract. Thanks for sharing.

I used to make bridal gowns and formal wear. I got burned once, so I had my lawyer draw up the contract (he was a friend, so dinner was payment). I he told me I should charge a one time, non-refundable deposit. This covers the interview as to what the customer wanted. If they decided to go ahead with the project, that money was applied to the total balance. I had a lady come to me with a dress to be made. I plotted out every detail I could possibly think of. She ended up going to someone else, using my "design package". I was out almost 4 hours of time, putting samples together, patterns, notion prices. She used it as leverage to have the other seamstress do it for less.
I raised my prices and used the consultation fee. I told them about the fee before we would meet. Anyone not wanting to pay did not even get the consultation. I got a better class of client, and less bargin hunting hagglers.
I actually saw money coming in!

Farmerswife, while i have nothing to offer in the way of contract info I can comment on a better way to do a t-shirt quilt.I have made several of them both with and without the fusible backing... the backing is expensive, time-consuming to iron on and makes the quilt VERY HEAVY. the last one I cut the t's in half at the side seams and cut the sleeves off. then I soaked them is a very heavy starch solution tile they were well saturated, about 10 minutes. i wrung them out and put them in the dryer til damp-dry. I pressed them on the wrong side and cut into the sizes I wanted to use... Worked so well! Try it.[ATTACH=CONFIG]397240[/ATTACH]

I don't do contract work for anyone at any time for any reason. Too much can go wrong. People think you can make a quilt out of old t-shirts or cheap fabric for the price you pay for one at Walmart and they get mad when they find out that isn't what you do. I make quilts for charity, for my own family and for those I love. Don't do it just because you are good hearted, that is the way to end friendships quickly. If you insist on doing it anyway, please use the contract form and make them buy the supplies, you can go along if you want.

can't help with a contract but for pricing, the average t-shirt quilt would cost approx. $300 depending on how many shirts involved and if they want specific quilting. If you google t-shirt quilt prices, you should run across companies that make these as their business.

I've also read that $16-$18 per shirt is another guideline.

I've made a couple (vowing never to make another one) as gifts so haven't needed to deal with actual customers. But I was asked recently how much to make one, when I quoted $300-$400 depending on the number of shirts, I haven't heard back from either of the people....and that's just fine with me since I don't really enjoy making them.
Oh, and the quotes I gave only included "very" simple straight-line quilting to hold the quilt together.

I don't do this because the quality of fabric they purchase might not be good. When I started quilting, I started with what I would consider cheap fabric (most were those FQs from Joanns). Not knowing what to look for, many were very thin and the quilt I made for myself only 5 years ago is now coming apart. The quilt has been washed less than 10 times. If someone insisted they buy the fabric, I would definitely make them sign a waiver of quality if it falls apart a few years down the road so you can't be sued in small claims court for bad workmanship.

I made a t-shirt quilt for my granddaughter. Didn't have lightweight fusible material so I ironed freezer paper on the backs, cut out my squares, sewed sashing strips all around before I removed it. A lot cheaper than fusible material.

WOW! this is a great start here! Very specific and detailed!