Cathe, $10.00 an hour is not enough. And wouldn't it be so helpful that
the 273 people that viewed this could help us out on this question!!!

Well, approximately 20 of those views were mine! LOL I've come back to view everytime somebody posts something new cuz I'm very interested in this topic!

I haven't made any quilts and sold them but I do make the raggedy purses, wallets, make up bags, change purses, tote bags and pencil bags and sell them. I make some "already Made" for people to just buy, but they are gone almost as soon as I make them, so usually I never have enough time to keep very many already made things on hand. So far, most of my orders for purses have been custom made orders, I let the customer choose the fabric, style, pockets, closure, etc. then I make it. I also make candles and jewelry and sell them, now these I always make and then sell. I do get custom orders for candles and jewelry every now and then. I have been wanting to go to fairs and different festivals and have been invited to a few but haven't had time to go because of all of the orders i've had and b/c of depending on what was going on in my life at that time. LOL. The next festival coming up is a fundraiser for an elementary school in a neighboring county, I was asked/invited to bring my items and set up. With this we pay like $3.00 for a table and then 10% of sales go to the school. It isn't until the end of October, so we'll see. I am in the process of setting up a website, it is taking longer than expected, I never have time to sit on the net long enough to get anything done. I also have been asked to bring my purses this Christmas to the Medowbrook Mall and put them in a candy shop on Consignment. I haven't decided about that yet either. The local quilt shop opening up was maybe wanting me to teach a class and sell my purses and other quilted items I make there, but it hasn't opened yet. So, we'll see...By the way, I had always wanted to make things and sell them and never thought I would. I designed my raggedy purses and once everyone saw them, I kept getting orders and then more and more and then people starting mentioning purse parties. LOL. I had my first purse party in August, I have another one coming up, just as soon as we set a date and then another this Fall. I postponed the parties until after we get finished moving, that way maybe I can get a few made beforehand.

I can't get over the "guilt factor" when it comes to pricing. When I see something I like at a craft show or festival and I can pretty closely estimate how much it would cost making it myself, I can't bring myself to buy that item...even if I really want it... So when I go to price my things...I automatically feel the same way about charging prices. I realize that underpricing is almost worse than overpricing, and have underpriced myself out of many sales. Even when you are doing said project right in front of the customers...they still think its cheap imports and not handmade. But overprice, and wait for the rude comments to fly. When I do a middle of the road pricing (my comfort zone) if compliments were money I'd be rich. Some of the information here has made me feel a little more comfortable with pricing...but not really confident to do so. When I first started setting up at fair's and shows, a very kind lady told me "honey...its simple...its the 3X's rule. You charge 3X's more than what it cost you to make." However, I've found that most often underprices me to death.

I will be making a baby quilt for a friend of mine real soon to give as a gift, not sure what I will charge. She is buying all the material, and there really won't be a lot of work for me to do because I found pre-quilted fabric in the colors with the little boy cars, planes etc on it. The only thing I will have to do is add a binding to it.

I hand quilt for other people in my home. I got 70 cents for every yard of thread I use. If I have to mark the quilt then I charge for that to. If I have to bind the quilt I charge for that to. I can usually do a full/queen quilt in about 6-8 week.

so Iquilt, can you give us an idea of how many yds. of thread it has taken on some of the quilts? I realize that it depends on the design .

I sell table runners locally at a store that sells Amish furniture and baskets. My runners are price from $30-$50. I figure my price by taking the total cost of material and batting and multiply that by 3. For example if my supplies cost $12.50 then I would sell that runner for $37.50. The store keeps 10% and takes care of the sales tax. I would make about $20 for that runner. Not too bad for doing what I enjoy!

Good Morning to Everyone!

I too am at a loss as to how much to charge for my quilts. I currently have a large twin size done and ready to sell but I am so unsure as to how much to sell it for. The top was machine sewn and the quilt has been hand quilted by tacking. I may figure up the 3X's suggestion and see what I get. Do any of you have an idea of what you would charge for it? I was thinking maybe $150 to $200.

I'm not sure a home quilter can make a lot of money. Quilters are just too nice to say anything until they get home. Retreats that teach folks how to quilt or how to us a long arm seem to be good for making money, meeting people and learning from each other.