I'm a spinner and knitter as well. I had my own business for a while. People would actually pay me $60+ for ONE skein of sock yarn. That's right... it's a $60 pair of socks not to mention the time they will have to put into it to knit it. It's sort of like paying $20/yard for some local, hand-dyed batik or something. I think any one of us would pay for a yard of that and use it as a center panel. If it's worth it to the person purchasing, they'll pay the price. If they see no value in a personal touch, they won't. It's all about what the market will bear, right?

funny this showed up today. My DH's physical therapist was here this morning and commented on my 20"x26" table mat I made yesterday using my new mini Twister tool -- fun to make. Anyway, she said "you should sell these" So I asked her what she'd pay for something like this. She thought about it so I asked if she'd pay $20? She said "I'd pay $10". Then I told her I had $10 in fabric. That really surprised her. Then she commented that $20 wouldn't even include a fair price for my labor involved. Then she understood.

That's why I don't do craft shows anymore. Just not worth my time and effort.

I don't have a lot of people to give quilts to because I come from a small family and there are quite a few quilters in my extended family. And then there are family members who are lukewarm and non-committal about getting a quilt when I ask what colors they would like. These people won't get a quilt from me. I have not sold any quilts yet, but I would like to. My price would be based on cost of materials and not time. The way I see it, I would quilt anyway, if I was selling the quilt or not. So if I can recoup my cost of materials, they hey, I can go shop for more. It's not that I don't value my time, I do. But I am not doing it to earn a living and I am ok with just recouping material costs so I can go get more.

BellaBoo, I've heard that in bad times you want to sell things that people want, not what they need to make money. Figure that one out?

I'd much rather give my quilts to people who need them. I do it because I love it. I may not make money quilting but it is cheaper than therapy.

I do most of my quilts for my family for nothing. They ALL have at least 2 or 3 each. I have sold a few quilts, and when it is fore a friend--I don,t charge for labor--just the material cost. I have one getting ready to be quilted for someone--It,s queen size. He is paying $300.00 for it . Also wanted matching pillow cases to go with it.
I enjoy quilting --so it gives me something to do to keep me out of trouble(lol).

I dont sell my quilts, I get asked a whole lot about them though. I generally start off by saying "anything bigger than a bread basket you can guarantee the materials cost is between $150-$300 and then I consider my labor to be skilled labor which goes for about $20/hr, most quilts will start at 20hrs up to 80hrs to complete"

They usually get a glazed look on their face, I tell them if I am putting any more than 2-3hrs into something, I am going to use top shelf materials otherwise it is a waste. And my time is important. With that being said, I dont get any requests for my quilts. I dont mind at all.

I have noticed there are 2 types of people who look for hand crafted items. Those that value the work/skill put into a hand crafted item and understand the the value assigned. Then there are those who have the what I call "walmart" mentality, they consider hand crafted items to be cheaper than store bought.

people that dont quilt do not realize how much work goes into one

I don't know all those people come up with their prices, but here's how I come up with mine. I figure up about how much the fabric would cost to replace what I used(whether I already had it or whether I bought it for that quilt), including the thread,rotary blade if I had to change it out,and don't forget the backing and batting. Then I double that amount and pay myself $10 an hour for the labor.If you only charge enough to cover materials, you will get very tired of doing all that beautiful quilt work for nothing. And you can use your profit to buy fabric for more quilts.After about the first 5 quilts I never had to use my personal money for quilt supplies again.

interesting thread. I often asked the same question. If I did sell my "hand quilted" items on etsy. I would not give them away.