This is why I never sell a quilt. I would feel insulted by the price people want to pay. I am making sure everyone in my family has a quilt made by me. I also give quilts to friends, but I don't sell them. I enjoy making the quilts. My children have learned that I always want gift cards for quilting stores or money for birthday and Christmas. That works out great because I can make more quilts and give to them. They all love quilts.

I do sympathize with those attempting to make a living from their quilting, and understand why -- in the face of competition from poor quality, mass produced goods from overseas -- they end up drastically undervaluing their artistry and labor. If they didn't, they wouldn't make any sales. But sadly, underselling like that does teach people that quilts aren't worth much. After the last discussion on this subject, I decided to keep track of my time when I started my latest quilt.

I'm going to have to quit quilting! I can't afford me anymore. NOT!! LOL

Peckish, I don't know. I picked it up 20+ years ago when I was on another, early quilting board on yahoo. We had it laminated and posted is my quilt shop in the late 1990s to great interest.:)

Jan in VA

See! This is the problem for me: "Professionals" are *paid* for their work, often (but not always!) have a "name" people outside their industry recognize, and usually are highly trained and experienced.

Well all of those things apply to me, and to many, many quilters I know of. In fact, if they teach, have been published, have been paid for their work, or won (monetary) prizes/awards in shows, then they are called MASTERS in the quilting industry and often can not compete in "lesser" categories. How are they not "professional"?!

The comments of this young lady you tell of show the ignorance so prevalent in society for subjects about which they really know nothing at all. I say it's up to us to educate them, not just assume they should know what we know. Personally, I think BNeighbor educated her would-be client to the point, kudos!

Jan in VA

A couple of years ago, I was approached by an acquaintance who commissioned me to re-create a quilt her son had grown up with. I wrote up a very detailed proposal that had a breakdown of costs and labor. I had allocated $100 for fabric, when she saw the proposal she said she'd assumed I would just use the fabrics in my stash.

IN MY STASH. Seriously??? So just because I paid for it last week, last month, last year, whenever, that means YOU don't have to pay for it at all???

I let THAT commission walk.

Just a little FYI. Many longarm quilters, myself included, prefer not to quilt with sheets for backing because have a higher thread count than yard goods. The inequality affects our thread tension and our goal is to provide you the best results we can.

Out of pure curiosity, I kept accurate records of the time and materials expended to make my DD "Rings that Bind" DWR QAYG quilt last year. I don't have the exact calculations in front of me, but as I recall, the fabric, thread, batting, pattern, etc. was over $550 and the time spent was approximately 340 hours. I didn't calculate labor costs as this was a gift of love for my DD.

My last wholecloth quilt (queen) had 608 hours in the hand quilting. I only tracked that out of curiosity, so no idea how long it took me to prepare the fabric and draw out the pattern, or the beading I added after the quilting was finished.
I gave it to a dear friend, and fellow quilter...who else could appreciate it?

Perhaps the disconnect among quilters as to real value of their work, can be explained in where each quilter is on their journey. Quilts made in a day with precuts, even well made, do not compare in perceived value with quilts that are an expression of an experienced quilter's work which for me, is each quilt pushing my skills, reaching further than the last.

My main output mid-80's to mid-90's was making wall quilts and wearable art, each one a different technique. I sold most of them 4 years ago, for a very good price. They showed refined techniques and were unlike anything the buyers would ever see anywhere else.
Quilting is a passion, one of the few constants in my life and each day I wake up excited, looking forward to my time with needles and threads and fabric and ending the day a better quilter than I was when I got up.

It was well said above, to get professional dollars, the quilter has to have built a professional life. I could have gone that route, but decided I never want to do for a job, what I do for pleasure.

If I was going to make a quilt to sell I would think of the time involved differently than if I was to make the quilt for family, friend or charity. But I think think that the key is how you value your time and what you choose to do with the time. Each of us has 24 hour in a day. Do we use it wisely or do we literally devalue it to the point of inactivity or waste. The answer is not the same for everyone. I am a producer and I think my day is well spent if my home is clean and neat, the laundry washed and ironed and attractive meals prepared and I have time to quilt, sew other things, knit, read, etc. I limit my time on the computer by the clock and TV without doing something productive at the same time is a waste of time. That said, I of course, "waste" some time because I get tired-never bored. I no longer want to sell my time for a price; but, I do want to use it as wisely as possible. My quilts may not bring thousands of dollars but I love producing them-that is without price.

"I no longer want to sell my time for a price; but, I do want to use it as wisely as possible. My quilts may not bring thousands of dollars but I love producing them-that is without price."

Well said quilterpurpledog!

Reminds me of my middle school home ec/cooking/sewing class. We had to keep track of very project we made. For instance, if I made a skirt, I had to note how much yardage I bought, cost per yard, thread, needles and time spent on the project. My friends and I have discussed for the fun of it, to keep track of our next quilt project. I am however mindful of how much I do spent, since I have limited income. But I have LOTS of fabric, which I bought when I did work.

Now I know my quilting is worth more than a therapist. I just will keep getting lost in the stress buster

I can believe it, as 300 hours is reasonable for all the cutting,piecing, pressing, quilting and binding that goes into a quilt. I do realize that I could never get paid a lot for my time, but quilting is my passion, my joy and quilting also helps me from doing in certain people who aggravate me. I don't mean that literally, but my quilting keeps me relatively sane, and when I don't quilt, according to my DH I get very cranky and we can't have that now, can we? LOL.

I have gifted all the quilts I have not kept for myself, except one. I was requested to make a quilt for a silent auction and was told I would be given a letter for tax purposes as to the value so it could be used as a deduction on our tax return. I thought that would be fair and it was for a cause I support, so I made the quilt. It was a throw, machine pieced, STD with my DSM and embellished with some other stitching. I also took time to hand sew the binding and some beads. When I turned it over, they said thanks, asked what the value was (I told them between $250-$300) and what I thought the starting bid should be (I suggested at least $50-$75). To my great surprise, I received a letter several weeks later stating that my donated quilt, which they valued at $100 for tax purposes, had started at $25 and finished at $60! The next year when they asked me to make another quilt for the auction, I had to decline. I enjoyed making the quilt, had no problem donating my time and materials and wanted it to be a good money-maker for this group, but they undervalued it because it was "home-made" and not a purchased item with a price tag attached.

Jan in VA. I love this. I think it's pretty darn accurate.

After making my 1st quilt, I realized making a quilt was a labor of love. One will never get money back when quilting so I just do it for the fun of it.

I've mentioned it before, this is what I just started doing after seeing someone here post about it...I bought a non digital small electric clock plugged into a power strip, when I start on a project I hit the on switch & work, when I'm done I turn off the switch, once it gets to 12 hours I write that on my cost list for that quilt & start the clock over. I'm curious to see how much time & money I use when making a quilt. I don't add any cost if it's fabric from my stash.
Jeri

When I think of how much the trout we had the other night cost . . . that my husband caught. Let's not confuse a hobby with a business.

I totally agree with you. I quilt for pleasure. I may give some away, but I do not sell them. I quilt what I want, when I want and how I want.

I got $7.83 per hour for their quilts. I think that is a fair wage for what they do.

Yeah that's a bit out there...

I don't track time spent on quilts, because it's my hobby and that wouldn't add to the fun! But I think I'm a pretty fast worker, I'm weirdly obsessed with efficiency in all things so I am constantly deconstructing tasks and figuring out ways to do them faster - what can I combine, what can I do simultaneously, what can I skip...

You guys should see me cook...my dad once commented to me that he'd "never seen someone cook with all four hands before"! (I cherish that as a huge compliment, by the way! I WISH I actually had 4 hands!) I'm always thinking 10 steps ahead; breaking steps apart if I can do parts conveniently "now" to shave a second or two "later"...it often doesn't make sense to watch what I'm doing, until you get to the end and suddenly everything is done. It's fun, for me, to be juggling so many tasks and constantly jiggering them around...cooking is a boring chore otherwise! And I get done faster AND most of the dishes are already washed before the food is even done cooking.

Sewing, though, I take more time with...it's not a chore so I relax and only use two hands at once. LOL But even so, there's a little monitor in the back of my mind pointing out where I'm wasting effort. ("If you're going to cut that, cut this too and save three minutes. If you're going to walk over there, bring this too, you'll need it in a half-hour. If you're reaching into that drawer, take out this too, you'll need it in 20 minutes. Set this next to that, they go in the same cupboard that you'll be passing on your way to the ironing table.....")

Rubesgirl- I totally get what you are talking about. I made 17 baby quilts & 4 queen size quilts and took them to our local womens shelter, they sent me a tax return donation form for $200. I could have cryed(sp). I felt so devalued(not sure if that's the right word) by their value of the quilts. Of course, I didn't make them for the tax deduction, but it made me feel like my quilts had no value to them.

I don't sell my quilts, I give as gifts, or to charity. I make an average of 50-75 quilts for the NICU unit a year. According to the IRS you can deduct donations of handmade goods, but you can only deduct what it cost you to make the item, not its fair market value. You can deduct only the cost of the materials. You are allowed to deduct out-of-pocket costs but not the value of your labor. If you itemize this might be a good idea. However, keep receipts of your materials used in your charity quilts. The NICU unit gives me a yearly donation form. I've never used it for a tax deduction. The feeling of pleasure I get is priceless!

I've also have gone to yard sales where people were selling or giving away handmade items. One time I saw a beautiful crocheted afghan and when I asked "how much" was told "free...my MIL made it for us and I hate it". I have this afghan on the foot of my bed and use it to cuddle up with on frosty days. It is a shame people don't realize how much love is put into making a handmade gift.

Wow Jan, that is interesting.