Quiltnut, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. I'd rather give my stuff to someone than sell it for less than I feel it's worth.

YOU SAID IT GIRL!!!!! I am with you all the way on everything you've just said. I don't want younger newbie quilters to take 40 yrs to figure out their craft is worth alot. It comes from the heart and there is huge monetary value in that! If you make only 230x30 baby quilts and they are spectacular heck charge thousands of dollars for them. Especially in todays world. Men like Marc Jacaobs and Michael Kors have no problem asking for 100's of dollars for their creations. I think women need to start expecting, asking and demanding money for our artistic contributions to quilting. Okay I'm off of my wooden soapbox now,Whew.

Amen Quiltnut! Ha! Ha! I like the way you put this!

I had talked to a lady who owns a store in the town where I live and she caters to the wealthy folks. All her items are priced high for sure. My daughter works there and she had told me that alot of people are coming in the store and asking for homemade quilts. Of course, she would love to give them my phone number, but her boss is usually standing there every time. But anyways, I decided to call her boss and tell her about a quilt I have made that is kinda different in style and colors as I have been told she loves unusual stuff to sell for her store. She acted like she just didn't know if it would sell and she really didn't even know how much homemade quilts would go for. She has a children's section that it would look great in I know for a fact. I felt like she was trying to get something for nothing so I never gave her a price that I would like to sell it for. I like what my husband says, if someone does not want to pay the price, we are not "giving it away", we will just fold it back up and put it back in storage.

So I totally agree with you and understand how you feel.

Vanessa :)

ask her if she'll display it for sale on consignment. you know how much you want for it. if she wants ... for example ... 20% of whatever it sells for, set the price as whatever you want + 20%.

if it sells, she'll want more. by doing it on consignment, you can set your own pace of production. if she offers to buy them outright, make sure you get at least what you want for it. have your daughter keep her eye out to see what the shop owner charges for it. if she's putting an outrageous markup and the quilts sell at that price, charge her more for future deliveries. :wink:

I haven't read every single post, but I've read many.

I do sell my quilts once in a while and mostly they are baby quilts. I charge between $30 and $50 depending on size (usually 38" square to 48" square). These are the simplest of patterns, usually four 12" blocks, sashing and one or two borders, simple machine quilting, and a binding.

I always add a label and if the buyer knows the baby's name, I'll add that. People seem to love that idea.

I've made and sold quilted place mats (custom to fit a camper table) and candle mats ($20 each).

I figure all I'm doing is getting more fabric money for myself. I don't try to make money selling quilts.

I make baby quilts for co-workers and for charity and once in a while a friend will have a baby.

Our quilt show just ended and many of the twin/double quilts were in the several hundred dollar range. I think that's probably typical for my (economically depressed and rural) area.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in....

No, sorry, I haven't written it up to share. There is a really good book out there, and I will try to track it down for you.

I would love to do the same... The quilting is my favorite part...

Thank you Patrice for your suggestion. I have thought of doing just that, selling by consignment. That way she could get an idea of if they will sell or not. Personally, I truly believe they would, especially during our tourist season.

Vanessa

I had a friend have me make a full size quilt, with pillow shams and bed skirt. I hand quilted the quilt. When I was done, and told her the price, (650.00 canadian) she wouldn't pay it. Because she was a friend at the time, I let it go and vowed never to sell another one. Losing a friend was not worth any amount of money.

People just don't seem to appreciate the amount of time that goes into quilt.

instead of giving up the idea of selling your work - if that's something you'd like to do - make sure you get written agreements ahead of time. If, when you're done, you think you charged too much you can give a discount. if you think you should have charged more, you'll "know better" when the next commission comes along.

I started making quilts when I was 12 as a hobby. When I was 18 ,I started making quilts for extra money.It was mostly relatives and friends that bought them and didn't pay me much more than the cost of the supplies.When I got married and had children, I didn't have much time to make many quilts to sell except for 2 or 3 that co-workers bought.2years later came the divorce. I tried marriage again but it didn't work either, but I got another beautiful daughter from it.I started making and selling more quilts because I had children to feed.Twelve years ago I started have a lot of health problems.My doctor ran tests and we found out that I had MS and couldn't work anymore. My children are grown and out of the house by now. They came and helped me rearrange the rooms so that I now have a front quilt shop(former dining room), fabric room(former bedroom), and 2nd fabric room(former bedroom).I make quilts all during the year and then around October I put an ad in our local Bargain Finders and by the middle of December all of my quilts are sold. I sell some during the year,but some of them sell during November and December.Making and selling quilts is a good way to making extra money for anyone.Would it work as a full-time money solution? Probably not,but I'm just speaking from my experience.Someone else may be able to turn it to a year round money solution.

Actually this is a topic I had commented on once. See my previous post.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-80448-1.htm

Here are my prices. I hand-quilt so it might be different than the long arm quilter's prices"
king:250.00,queen:200.00,full:175.00,couch:125.00, baby:100.00,wall:75.00,lap:50.00,king/queen sham:30.00 each, quilted 35.00 each.reg sham:25.00each,quilted 30.00 each.

I also make pin cushions for 5.00 each. Some sit on the table,some have elastic and go around your wrist, and some fit on your finger.

I'm a longarm quilter. I keep it simple. 2.5 cents a square inch for edge to edge and 5 cents an inch for custom quilting. The price for custom quilting is too low in my opinion but thankfully I don't get too many of those, they take ten times as long to do and I have to drag out a myriad of tools as well. For binding, which is rare, I charge 25 cents a linear inch, that is machine sewn to the front and hand stitched to the back. My customers know my prices and they either accept them or take their business elsewhere. Another longarmer in town charges 1.9 cents a square inch but it takes her months to get a quilt done and I usually have a 3-5 day turn around.
Remember you time is worth something as well as your skill. Don't sell yourself short, if they could make it themselves they would! Have your prices SET ahead of time, even print them out to hand to your customer so they know you are not just talking off the cuff. This helps you to be more professional also. Hope this helps.

I hand quilt for folks...am just figuring out the fees. The Amish ladies charge per yard of thread. The rate depends on how many stitches per inch. I like a little $$ for fabric,but mainly cause I just love to hand quilt.

I have made and sold made to order t-shirt quilts. I advertise on fb. I have made ten so far. It is not enough to make a constant income but it helps. I charge 150 for lap and twin, 200 for full, 250 for queen and 350 for king. I have my own page on fb. It is called Carmens sew unique quilts.