Labor cost
 

I have been given 60 blocks to make into a quilt. I will have to buy any extra fabric for the borders, binding, etc. My question is how do I figure the cost of the labor so as not to cheat myself. This is for someone that knows nothing about quilting and is a family member. Thanks

Keep track of your hours. Figure out how much you would be happy making per hour. Multiply the two together. Subtract family discount if any ;-).

Or look at it this way - if you made a $1000 you would be happy. If you made $10 you would not. Now keep closing in from both ends until you reach a figure you think both you and the family member would be happy with.

first assumption i have is that the family member has offered to pay you for the work. and it's important to remember that it is work. i did commissioned quilts in the ninties. i had a few professional seamstress acquaintences & friends. got the hourly rate they charged ..higest was 13$/hr. so i charged 10$/hr. i kept notepad at machine & logged starting & stopping time as i worked on customer quilt & also did what mommies do for busy young son. most of my work was sometimes done in middle night after busy son finally asleep. i charged for fabric prep time & 6$, sometimes more depending on intricacy of design (i design my quilts). they purchased any fabric. i preferred to go with client for fabric purchase to make sure adequate amount & reasonably attractive together color choices. it was always a fun shopping trip for both of us! :) my clients were always pleased with finished quilts. one client even added several hundred dollars to agreed upon price after visiting and seeing almost completed quilt. i know this is more info than needed for simply setting blocks in a sashing ..sewing all together, quilting then adding binding, but it is work. your personal time used for someone elses project. and i personally know that some nonquilter family members do not understand the amount of time, knowledge & talent that goes into making a quilt ..even if all you're doing is setting blocks (which need to be squared so that all uniform, repaired sometimes if vintage) etcetcetc. be fair to yourself or let them take it to a professional seamstress & find out the real world cost of their "simple" project.

I agree that you should be paid at least $10/hour for skilled services and wear & tear on your machine. Having said that, let's estimate that to prepare & cut your yardage, press, square and sash each block takes 15 minutes. That's $150 right there. Then there's sandwiching, quilting and binding. Probably another 10-15 hours, or $100-$150, so you are looking at at least $250-$300. I would tell them that you will charge them by the hour, but your rough estimate is $300, plus materials (which I would have them purchase). Purchasing the materials is often an eye opener for non-quilters.
Even if it is a very close family member, have this discussion before you start, and put it in writing!!!!

Before you even start - have a discussion with the family member so that there are fewer misunderstandings.

Many people think that what you need to do can be done in a couple of hours - and that's if you are dawdling.

Or that if they pay you $50 they have been overly generous.

Just saying - - - - - -

think you need to sit down and put together an estimate--what the additional fabric will cost, and then your charge per block (I'm assuming that the blocks are similar and won't need any design work). You need to think about that--are they already squared or will you need to trim, will it be a simple sashing and border added, or will you be doing cornerstones, etc? And will you doing the quilting and binding? I would advise you not work for less than $10/hour minimum. If you can estimate what it will take for you to finish this quilt, great, if not, keep a log-in sheet handy. But do talk to your family member before you start about what will be paid. Only way to be fair to both of you.

I agree with all of this especially the having it in writing. However, I'd ask $15 - $20 per hour for my time.

Most non quilters have no idea of how much work goes into a homemade quilt. My sister would say "But you use a sewing machine" Like you waved a magic wand and the machine did it all! Of course she was not a crafty sort of person and never made anything by hand. I never made a commissioned quilt because then it would have really felt like work and would have ruined the experience for me.

I'm really puzzled by people who don't know anything about making a quilt declaring that it's not really a quilt if pieced or quilted by a machine. I'm tempted to ask them how they cooked dinner. If they used a stove instead of an open fire then it's not really cooking?