jmras...the 3X's rule works for you; I wonder if it has to do with the area one lives in. I am beginning to think that maybe its where we sell. Less rural areas would probably be easier to get a more profitable price perhaps. Would choosing shows, sales, fairs etc. in larger areas be more advantages than the small towns (like here we have a pop. of 1900) where we normally set up? Our thought thus far is that folks from larger cities come to these smaller towns for the quaint, nostalgic type fairs.

this isn't on the subject of making money re quilting -- those two little ones are adorable. Oh, and I agree on the urbanites travelling to smaller places for the "real deal".

Thank you Safta, they're my surprise babies LOL. They are two of my favorite people to sew for :D .

I like to finish quilts for people who have inherited quilts started by grandparents, parents, etc. In fact, this is what had me enroll in my first quilt class. I always show my finished product to all my friends and neighbors and sometimes get one or two custom orders for something similar. Likewise with gifts. I show the baby quilt to everyone and then see if anyone asks me about making them a quilt!

I charged $65 for finishing a queen quilt. I finished the quilting and added a binding.

I charge $125 to $150 for 45 to 57" quilts. Machine quilted.

My charity receives $225 for bed size quilts...I learned not to use extremely expensive fabrics for these.

I have a friend who charges $50 to hand quilt twin size quilts.

Hope this pricing info helps.

I have decided multiple smaller projects would probably bring more money for charity events... such as wall hangings, quilted purses, etc.

I do not have enough goods for a business web site and it is my understanding that free web sites do not allow selling. Am I correct?

Websites are not necessarily expensive. You can buy a domain name for $10 and your server space for about $60 per year. It would be good to register the domain name you want even if you aren't ready to get a website up, so no one else takes it!

Did you really mean to write that your friend charges $50 to hand quilt a twin sized bed quilt??? OUCH! I charge $10 per hour. Not many people are willing to pay it. I did one queen sized quilt and I kept warning the woman that the highly complex design she wanted would be expensive, but she paid the final bill of $1150 without blinking. This would be a good time to mention marketing and credentials and references. ...

I don't have a lot of time right now, but let me just say that it's good to offer written testimonials. I have some on my website. Also, have good clear pictures of samples of your work if you are selling online. The woman above was willing to pay me for quilting because I came highly recommended by the owner of our local quilt store. It helps to have connections. Leave your business cards (you can make them on your computer or buy them cheap through vistaprint.com) everywhere! I also have a list of prizes/awards I have won. It's not a long list, and they weren't prestigious or national awards, but it looks good to someone who is shopping for a quilter.

There really is a market out there. You just have to advertise and market yourself. You are GOOD!

oh, and someone mentioned that $10 per hour wasn't enough. You know, it seems like a lot of money to me, but everyone has to establish their own comfort level with how much money they make. Don't undersell yourself!

Sometimes I list a quilt on ebay and it doesn't sell. I have relisted it at a HIGHER price and sold it!

Hello Everyone,

I am very new at this, so bear with me. I have been working on a web site that sells embroidered quilt squares, www.CleverEmbroidery.com. My husband is a software engineer so I have him working at it. He says it is his second full time job. The site seems to get hits, but there are no customers, either buying or logging on. I would appreciate any advice.

The prices look kind of high, but I try to price them by stitches.

Thank you for any help :)

Cheryl

Congrats on your site. I'm sure now that you've advertised on here for us, we will all be checking out. Thanks again, I'm checking it out now. :)

I meant to mention that i love embroidered items, I don't have an embroidery machine yet...maybe in the next few years. Right now, I have to spend quite a bit of money on college, books, tests etc. so just as soon as that is over, I'm sure I'll get one.

Thank you :mrgreen:

I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks about it.

Cheryl

I like your website and I think your prices are reasonable. I will share your site with friends.

That's a market I am not familiar with, Cheryl! How are you promoting it? To whom do you market it? Did you design your patterns yourself? Do you sell the software so people can embroider those designs or only the finished product? Do you limit how your client can use them? How do you find non-copyrighted patterns to sell? Do you sell locally?

I think it might be helpful to have on your site some project ideas, especially on the front page, so people can see what they can do with the embroidered squares.

The designs that I use include approval to resell the products that the design has been embroidered on. I am very careful about copyright law.

I am only selling the finished product as a service to those who don't own an expensive embroidery machine and all the product that goes with it. There is no limit how the embroidery can be used and I hope people will share their finished product with me so that we can include many ideas on the site.

I buy all of my patterns online through major embroidery pattern supply companies, they are available to anyone for purchase.

This is a new site. My wonderful husband, a software engineer, designed the site and is continuing to improve it. Once he has everything figured out we will be promoting our own designs.

I am marketing to anyone who would like to include beautiful embroidery pieces in their projects of any kind; quilts, table runners, wall hangings, framed as stand alones to name a few. Our primary focus will be selling on the web, but I plan to start doing some direct sales through shows.

Thank you for your reply
Cheryl

Cheryl, I may have missed it but I didn't see ant sizes on the designs or how big of a piece of fabric they are on. I think your prices are reasonable, I have a machine and know how much thread and other supplies it takes. Good luck in your venture.

I have an aunt that makes baby quilts and charges $65. She says she isn't interested in making profit so much as just funding her hobby! :)

If you click on the picture on the initial page it will take you to the item page where all of the information is shown, including an enlarge picture.

Thanks for looking
Cheryl

:D Thanks Cathie--- ALL of your advice is top notch.. Thanks again. I did go to that site-love it!

I'm glad it helps! I am just getting ready to list some wall quilts and maybe a tablerunner or two. Taking the pics and getting them edited and uploaded takes me a while, and then I make an html page for the auction... sometimes I think all of that takes longer than making the quilts!!

:D :shock: :roll: :mrgreen: I'm going to look when you get them on- let us know :D

Here is the html page I made for the dahlia quilt - it's not listed yet, but I will take the html from this page and paste it into the ebay listing page when I do that.

http://www.hopechestcollection.com/gqimages/giantdahlia.html

very beautiful work

so much of it is in the presentation.

And you may have noticed in the text if you read that - people want to know that you have a smoke-free and pet-free sewing area if you are selling quilts or quilting for pay.

Cathe,you are exactly right! I know I always check for smoke-free homes before I buy anything but that is because I am allergic to cirgarette smoke and it makes my asthma act up really bad. If you have't noticed from my posts..I am allergic to everything...seriously. LOL.

Someone else mentioned, that they only sold their quilts to support their hobby. And I agree with that person. I only want to support my art form. I'm not out to mass produce or become a designer. I'm very Mom and Pop oriented. But my days of giving away are done. Nothing is cheap any more, even the gas, for searching yard sales and running to sales at JoAnn's isn't cheap any more. And You have to consider all thats involved, and everything involves cost. I don't do this to impress or get kudos, I just really enjoy it and it's going to wind up like Letter Writing, Considerd a lost art. If I never sold another one I would consider them Treasures for my Family and Friends to share after I'm gone. They often see my heart in my work, and alway tell me that.

And that's a good point - unless you are willing to really pour yourself into making this your entire life, you aren't going to make much money at it. I make grocery money and some spending money, and that's what I need, so I am content. I can build up my client base and increase my prices as my reputation grows, but because quilts take a while to make, I'm never going to get rich or even steadily support myself doing it.

You will only make real money at it if you design patterns and fabric, write books and become a "celebrity quilter". In order to do that, you need to get hooked into that group. The best place to start, if that is your goal, is at Quilt Market. That's where you make contacts. That's not what I want for my life. Also, I am not willing to be part of that culture. It's very high-pressure, and it's a lot like those snobby quilt guilds you have been hearing about. I want to be able to minister to ladies who can't afford quilt shop fabric! I like teaching people HOW to make quilts, which is different than guiding them through one particular pattern to make a quilt.

Yes. When I do place a minimum bid on items for charity, I always put a suggested retail price so that people know what the true value is, even if they do win it for less! Irecently placed a price of $450 on a quilted jacket. A bargain since it took me a month to find all the fabrics and pattern and to make it!

jo

I also have a problem with the pricing of quilts here is South Africa.
I have made a calico embroidered single bed quilt and it is hand quilted and I have charged R400 in total as it did take me working full time on it for 2 weeks and also cost me R200 for all the fabric and threads and batting. Have not heard if it was sold yet. Dont think so because people here are not into quilts as much as other countries.
Take care and I will stay positive and hope to sell it soon.

What great info, Cathe. I'm planning on starting my own pattern business. Now all I have to do is find out exactly where I'm going to duplicate the patterns for the least amount of money. Staples isn't any kind of bargain. I also need to find out where to order the zip bags to hold the patterns. Any ideas?
Debbie C.

A custom made queen size quilt should have cost her at very least $300!! :!: Has she checked the price of good quality quilts lately? You did all that work for free. I hope she appreciates you.
Debbie C.

As I remember the QN article, the PA Amish aren't shipping their quilts to Asia to be quilted; there is a population of Hmong living in PA. The Hmong have a tradition of very fine needlework and they are working for some (not all) of the Amish quilters doing beautiful quilting and supporting their families at the same time. If you go to some of the quilt shows, there are a couple of Hmong vendors who sell traditional blocks, purses and jackets. They do incredible reverse applique and the tiniest stitches I have ever seen :!: I have purchased a couple of these blocks to use in a jacket I made. When I spoke with the vendor, I found out that it would take an experienced needleworker a full day to make the 5" (about) block and they charged only about $5 for the block! I also bought a small purse for $10.

Yes, the Hmong do amazing work. I have bought a couple pieces from them, and I always feel like I am STEALING. They need to learn how to market their work.


There are companies that do that - print patterns and supply hanging bags. I can't remember their name, but I get junk mail from one all the time. I will do a google search and see if I can find it.

Good afternoon everyone! I enjoy reading all of your posts and learning so much from you.

I finally decided over the weekend that the price of my twin size quilt will be $225. The reason for this decision is the fact that it was hand quilted. if I had of machine quilted it, it would be priced at $175. What do you ladies think? My prices from now on will be according to the quilts being hand or machine quilted. We all know hand quilting takes alot more time.

I started a full size quilt also this weekend and it will be priced according to how I quilt it.

Vanessa
I think that is a good, and fair price,

Vanessa that is a great price! My MIL used to make alot of quilts and hand quilts all of them. She hasn't had time to make any recently. She doesn't normally sell them unless someone offers. She always gives them away. She does excellent work. She made a king size quilt with all 50 states and hand quilted it, a local guy offered her $500 for it.

Good Morning!

Thank you Rebecca and live2teach for your kind words. I feel comfortable with my decision. My husband always says that if someone doesn't want to pay the price, that we are not giving it away and we will just fold it back up and put it back in storage. I do sometimes make a quilt as a gift and will be doing some charity work, but some I do need to sell to help make extra money for whatever I might need it for. Right now that would be to pay taxes. Ha! Ha!

I hope all of you have a wonderful day today!

Good luck on your quilt sales, ladies! Your prices sound very reasonable to me. I did hear from a lady here in Texas that her mother always sells her full size quilts for $350 (hand quilted) no less!

I also have a cousin of a cousin who does very fine, dense hand quilting and gets $1,000 a quilt. So work on your quilting stitches, ladies!

I wanted that quilt! :cry: That sucker was big enough for 2 beds! It was gorgeous!

Cathe

Your Daliah quilt is absolutely fabulous!!! Great color combination!!

Do you sell the pattern? (ihope, i hope, i hope!!)???

Best of luck with your site!!

imak

Debbie C, this site seems to have pretty good deals on re-sealable bags.

http://www.polybagsupplies.com/reclosable-poly-bags-c-22.html

Hope it helps.

I am just now delving into selling my quilts; storage space is becoming a critical issue.

Here's what I've come up with so far; cutting-5 hours. piecing-12 hours. Hand-quilting-24 hours. Binding-3 hours. This adds up to 44 hours. Even at minimum wage ($5.85), this adds up to $257.40, without adding cost of supplies, etc.....for a 48"x48" wall quilt. I don't know if this is a reasonable price from a prospective buyer's viewpoint. I suspect not.

All my quilts are original design. I have been an artist (or artisan) for 60 years. I have been sewing for 47 years. I am good at this, to put it bluntly and without false modesty. (before you folks think I'm arrogant..not to worry, I've been slapped down so many times, it's taken me 40 years to work up the guts to say..I am good at this. OK?)

My point is; I think we all have to reach some kind of middle ground between our sense of self-worth and the reality of selling our things.
Lots of factors involved. How badly do you need the money? How much do you think you're worth? What's the market for handmade things in your area? What marketing skills help? Who's likely to give you some good tips? How do you approach people?

Enough long-windedness. A wise friend suggested consignment shops.
So, what kind of shop, boutique, or store are you considering? Do wealthier folks shop there, or average joes like us. Price your work according to the marketplace you're approaching. Human nature is thus; everyong wants a bargain, but people suspect a product's worth when it's priced too low. So my mindset is going to be I'M WORTH IT. If they don't want my beauties, I'll just go home, put on a pot of coffee, and pout...and quilt some more

Boy....all I have to say is...if you can do a 48 x 48 wall quilt in 44 hours (from start to finish)....then by all means yes...you are definitely good at this! LOL