I created this thread for the latest newsletter notification:
Let's have a discussion.

ooooooh. :P

let's give this one its very own major category, along with Main, Pictures, etc

Hmm, if enough people show interest, then we can do that.

I can't believe nobody's responding, I am very anxious to hear what some do and for how much.
Come on girls (and guys) spill your guts, tell us your secrets.

Inquiring minds want to know!

I have a website to promote myself as a teacher, but for the last several years, I haven't done much - I have been too busy finishing up my sons' education. Now that I am a few months into my retirement from that, I am ready to get reorganized and pick up those threads again. (or I might have to go get a real job. :wink: Ewwww....)

When I teach a class, I make at least one or two samples, plus prototypes for drafting the patterns. I usually try to make my samples from fabrics representative of what is available to my students. If I am teaching in a quilt shop, for example, I don't use Walmart fabrics but instead promote the sales of the shop's fabrics and tools. If I am teaching a ladies' church group or other workshop event outside of a shop (or not sponsored by any shops), I have more flexibility. In general, teaching is much more profitable than making quilts to sell. It does, however, tie you to a schedule. Often, the classes are in the evenings or on weekends. When I am done teaching a class, I usually sell the samples. Then I usually regret it, when I have to start new samples next time I teach it! LOL

So if I have already made an income from teaching a class, I don't mind not making a profit when I sell the sample. If I used expensive imported fabric, I am really lucky to break even.

My bread-and-butter sales are on ebay. I do baby quilts, wall quilts, runners, etc. A couple of larger quilts, but not many ready-to-ship. EBay and also etsy.com are my best advertising. Most of my special-order clients found me on ebay or etsy. For those online sales, I usually use less expensive fabric. Not CHEAP fabric, but the more reliable American brands - VIP, Cranston, etc. I also shop at fabric warehouses when I visit my mother in Minneapolis. There, I can get imported calicos (and dressmaking fabrics, too!) at very low prices. I have to look over each piece carefully, because sometimes there are flaws, but often these are so minimal that I can use them anyhow. Usually, the fabric is there because it is outdated. That may be of interest to the cutting-edge world of quilters, but most shoppers don't care. They want to keep their quilt a long time and don't care that the fabric was printed three years ago!

JoAnns is a good place to get cotton batting in large quantities. Even non-longarm users can use the big rolls of batting if they have a place to store them. If you use a coupon or get them on sale, that saves you a LOT of money.

No matter how carefully you shop for bargains, though, you won't make money quilting if you don't do it fast enough. Set up your storage and work spaces for efficiency and comfort. Organization is SOOO important. I keep my computer in my studio/sewing room, too, because it has become very integrated with my sewing!!

Keep accurate books! I use Quick Books Pro, and since most of my sales are online, people usually pay me through Paypal. They make tax time very easy, because you can download the entire year of income and expenditures in a csv file, to open and edit in a spreadsheet. I use my Paypal debit card for all of my business expenses, so I don't need to sit down with a year's worth of faded cash register receipts. It's all on the Paypal site!

Periodically, I get a Wisconsin sales tax license, but I always end up letting it lapse. I just don't sell locally, and I was very bad about keeping up with the quarterly reports. We file a regular 1040 federal return and I have a couple easy self-employment forms to attach. It doesn't take long at all.

Don't underprice your work. Promote it as GOOD work, and charge accordingly. If they want cheap quilts, they can buy Chinese imports at JCPenney.

Oh, and be sure to charge adequately for shipping. If you are buying boxes, tissue, cello bags, tape, etc. , remember to work them into the cost of shipping. For special orders, get 50% of the fee up front and payment in full before you ship it. (Or 100% before you start, depending on the client. For strangers, I often require 100%.) I almost always just ship by USPS Priority mail. They provide nice clean sturdy boxes that are self-sealing. I print the mailing label online at the USPS website and get free delivery confirmation that way. I could even pay for it and just hand it to the mailman at my doorstep if I had a scale, but I don't. Delivery Confirmation is very important.

I hope that helps!

Great advice Cathe. I think this is a topic that should interest everyone.

Right now making money from my projects is only a dream. I have two small children, and it's hard enough to get things accomplished that have to be done! (like dishes and supper and laundry)
We have a Travel Trailer. One day I plan on getting lots of projects made and take the TT to a few fairs/festivals to set up and sell. I can pack up all my goodies inside, pull it to the destination, set up tables and racks outside under the canopy. I will also have my own bathroom and fridge, so I won't have to leave my site.
DD is old enough to help, and what cute little princess wouldn't draw in customers? She wants to be a model, so she can start out early!
I don't plan on just selling quilts, but all sorts of quilted items. I also make jewelry.
I think most of my items will be already ready, already for customers to buy, but I'm sure they will see something and want one customized to their specific wants. I also plan on having a lot of items with embroidery. Customers could get their initials or name embroidered on custom items. :D

In my area it's really hard to get folks to pay what the goods are really worth. One of the things I do, is keep a notebook for the items I'm making. Notes on the cost of fabric, the type of fabric, batting, thread, and each amount of time I work. Sometimes it's in minutes, sometimes in hours.

Then when you want to figure the price:
Total time spent + cost of fabrics, materials, (include needle and blade cost) = amount to X the price per hour you'd like.


It can be intimidating. I once did a short wedding dress with lace appliques, it only cost the gal $350 and she knew she was getting a bargain. I threw in the Tulle long tie on skirt she wanted for the ceremony.

There are lots of costs that folks forget to add in, like meals if you are on a deadline and you have to purchase, get a contract in advance, one gal stiffed me for fabric and dress that I made her. I didn't have a contract so I couldn't take her to small claims. It was only going to cost her $400 for the full skirted, self train, and homemade roses across the neck front. I lived to learn again.

Good topic for a new board.

Can we get a separate board for the BOM, so people can find them easier??????

Thanks,
Sharon

I've never sold a quilt, but I've made them for charity auctions and they seem to do pretty well. I have considered making 10-15 baby quilts / lap quilts by December and setting up on the church parking lot as a fundraiser. It would be just in time for people to get gifts for those Christmas babies.
I haven't decided if the time I have to put in them will be worth the effort. I have no clue what to charge for a baby quilt, I've always just given them as gifts.
What are reasonable prices for small quilts? Surely people would be more willing to pay more for quality work if it is for fundraising?

It is always hard to get your monies worth from a handmade item, unless you are famous. In the custom sewing business, people always asked me why I didn't try to sell my handmade creations ...I tried..but after adding the materials and atleast $20 hour min. It should be $40.00 hr) the item cost so much no one could afford it. It's not worth it! And I was fast at my sewing. i did figure out that getting a custom order was better. They paid for the fabric, I added my time. It still was alot of work, with very little profit if any. Ordinary people will not spend that much money on something handmade. you need to find the market of people that ARE willing and capable of paying. Please send me that list when you find it!! :lol:

Oh yeah, I went to a festival in Brown Co. Indiana Saturday. One person was selling their lap quilts for $50.00..... I just can't figure out the profit on that one!!!!!

I doubt I have ever made any real profit selling my stuff ....I've only sold locally to people I know and have sold a few items in a yard sale.... currently I am working on a venture to sell items at a new craft shop....won't know for a few weeks yet if that is going to work out.

This is something I've always wanted to do...make money doing something I enjoy!

II LOVE TO DO ART QUILTS. SORRY ABOUT ALL CAPS. IHAVE A VERY LITTLE DOG IN MY ARMS AND IT'S HARD TO HUNT AND PECK THAT WAY. ANYWAY , I'M DISABLED AND I'D LIKE TO BRING HOME A LITTLE SOMETHING ONCE IN A WHILE. :roll:

Cathe ...this is the part I'm not good at...pricing...I know about the hourly rate and cost of materials etc..... but if somebody could just give me an idea...like say...how much for a 15 x 36 tablerunner....a 30 x 30 wallhanging....a 54 x 54 couch throw... just a basic price would work for me....

I made a queen size quilt for a friend of mine....she bought all the materials and picked out a pattern from one of my books.....it took me about 2 weeks to make the quilt and if I may say so myself ..it turned out pretty nice.....I asked her for $100.... she paid it but did say she hadn't intended on spending that much on the quilt (including her cost of materials which I believe was around $80) she wanted it to give as a gift.

Some people just don't understand what goes into the making of quilts I think.

kikicol - I responded to you in your other thread about this. Did you get a chance to look at those quilts? http://www.quiltingboard.com/posts/list/2342.page

Patsy, you really need to set prices ahead of time. When I do projects for people (strangers) where I am going to charge an hourly rate, I charge $10 per hour for my time. But I find the best way to do this is to figure out ahead of time how long the project will take and quote them a flat price. That is purely subjective, though, according to the person and the project, because I have the flexibility to do that. :lol: When I am doing that, I provide rotary cutting blades and machine needles. The customer provides every thing else, from thread to elastic and interfacings (for clothing, obviously). I also keep a folder for quotes, and I put deadlines (These prices good until December 5, 2007) and time estimates on the quotes as well!

For finished quilts, I am a little subjective, too. If I HATED making the stupid thing, I charge more. If I need money really badly, I might charge less. If I don't really care if it sells, I start it a lot higher.

On ebay, I usually start simple tablerunners at $40 for the opening bid. Wall quilts in the size you mentioned would start at about $40-$70, depending on what it is. Lap quilts usually start at $75 or so. Some go as high as $150. Not much higher yet.

BUT... I seldom buy new fabric for any of the quilts I make to sell. Most are "used" class samples. Some are pattern prototypes. And for me, the ebay stuff is grocery money and advertising. Lately, I have been making more class samples and have a list of special order projects to sew.

I am blessed with a loyal customer base - not huge, but very helpful. I do more than just quilts - I design and sell clothing and other things, too. I do a lot of mending and alterations for our church family, too. Most of that is my own ministry and I don't charge for it. We have lots of new brides lately, so alterations and sometimes dressmaking is my gift to them. For other people who come to me for that kind of sewing, I charge $10 per hour or some other figure that seems suitable. And I write it down for both of us.

You have to find your own comfort level for charging friends and relatives. I recently did a lot of mending for a young couple at church. They wanted to know how much they owed me, and I told them "nothing. I will probably call you needing help one of these days! I LOVE it when people owe me a favor!" (evil cackle) It seemed to make them very nervous! :lol:

ok, that helps alot...thank you Cathe...now for another question.

Do you sign and date the stuff you sell or not?

Very seldom. Sometimes I make commemorative labels for the client -

Mr and Mrs Robert Smith
July 7, 2007
Rochester, Minnesota

When I was selling at art shows up in northern Wisconsin, to tourists, I signed my name and "Eagle River, WI" because they were buying it as a souvenir.

thanks for the detailed info. do you figure your prices according to an hourly rate plus expences?

:D Thanks you , so much Cathie

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.

most of the quilters that do so for sale charge 5 cents a square inch or set a price for specific sizes and complexities

Well I'll throw in how I do it. Since I appraise,restore, buy, sell and consign only antique quilts on ebay and on the web. It is usually a very individual case by case situation.
Restoration of a whole quilt-I provide the antique fabric from my time period antique stashes, I provide all the cotton thread and I charge by the square foot if a quilt is 6 feet by 6 feet I charge $20 x 36 which equals $720 which is about how much a well maintained 19th century quilt would cost
If I am only hand quilting say an old antiquefamily quilt top it is $10x36 which equals $360 about the going appraisal value of a newly quilted antique fabric quilt
If just the binding needs replacing on an antique quilt-once again my antique fabric,thread etc but I charge by the linear foot $20
I also advise clients if I am presented with a one patch in shreds that restoration for value is not worth it, I can restor it for sentimental purposes but the cost is the same
Now I didn't just come up with this out of thin air I got the idea from a girl friend who was raised in an Amish village and has left now. She's an excellent quilter and resides in upstate New York now. She said that when she was young about the age of 6-10 yrs old she would make quilts for the community and for sale and they charged $5 per amish yard of thread used on a quilt. Now, an amish yard is from the tip of your nose to the length of your extended arm to finger tips. We know that a 6 yr olds amish yard is smaller than an adults and that the amish make very tight little stitches. See the hitch here. More yards of thread,because its a short yard and tight stitches. Alot of thread went into the quilts she made as a child hence the higher price. Nowadays most amish quilts are designed and pieced by amish but then shipped to asian countries for the hand stitching to be done there and shipped back to be sold in Amish villages. This is how the overhead cost stays low.

This is very interesting about the Amish quilts. I didn't know that they are being sent off to Asian countries to be quilted. To me this is not a homemade quilt and would not be one I would want to purchase. I have a dear friend who is 94 years old and still makes quilts the old-fashioned way by using a quilting frame that hangs from the ceiling and hand stitches and quilts all of hers. She made me a lap quilt from feedsacks and I will always treasure it.

I had no idea about Amish quilts either.
The way I price my runners are; price the fabric used at retail fabric price(whole yards), the cost of thread(whole spools) and double it, I buy at wholesale or @ 40-50% off only. I make samples out of retail priced FQ's.
I am trying to make some ahead and sell at Bazaars this fall. and I am going to try Ebay.????? Maybe
I dont think you make much money unless you pay less than retail, something you can make very fast, doing more than one at a time, or custom jobs. I see small wall quilts made out of a panel and not much machine quilting trying to sell for $50. I dont think they are worth it.

I sell some quilts and tablerunners, I have made clothing and wedding dresses for others. When I made wedding dresses it was 15 yrs ago and I charged $5 for every yard of fabric and they usually brought there own fabric. I used to work in a dry cleaners where I got asthma. So I adapted her pricing. And then when I did clothing, 5 yrs ago, I raised the price per yard to$8-10 and charges for extra stuff like zippers, belts, snaps, ect. I think alteration people charge way too much, those who have to rent buildings. I understand that they have to pay for the rent and insur. That is why I do classes to teach others. It is the "IN" thing to do and so many young people are interested. It is sad that there is no "home ec" in school much. But I guess the upgrade in machines is too much. I am trying to gather up some machines and teach and after-school class for kids.



I do enjoy teaching. I am hoping to make more money as word gets around.

I made a queen size rag quilt for a wedding gift and charged 200.00, plus fabric and batting cost. It turned out real nice. I made a lap size rag quilt, special order, I did it with old blue jeans and red flannel and charged 85.00. I really like to design my own and have gotton very positive feed back on my own designs and creations. I just finished making 2 quilts that I designed for the fall, that my son is going to post on e-bay. I made them 50x70, alot of applique. I'm also designing a Christmas quilt, I want my son to wait till I have that done before he puts them on e-bay. I'm asking for 150.00 for each of those. I know they are worth that if not more. I kinda look at it if they don't sell they will always go to my family as treasures that I leave for them. I'm not giving my stuff away anymore. I spent alot of years, time, effort, and genuine care in designing and creating my quilts, they are my babies. They are part of me and I'm proud of them.

There is a great article I read about the amish and asian quilt connection at the quilters newsletter website www.qnm.com
it is in this Issue No. 387 November 2006
Vol. 37, No. 9
Reading this article confirmed for me what my friend Sarah told me.
I agree the shipped quilts are taking advantage of low wage labor and I would not buy one either. General American's in the age of Walmart, do not value American handcrafted quilts But you should see how many are valued that are 100 or more years old. They want them all to look new again because they have real value! So all of you current quilt makers know in your heart that your current new quilts will live on for at least 100 yrs ahead of now and unfortunatly they will THEN be worth alot of money

:D Yes I got the sitre. It sure was an eye opener! I just loved it. I did not see any bids on these . Have you actually sold on e-bay?\
It seems like so much fun. As ya'll may have noticed I'm now chunkymamma There is someone I know who is using kikicol- my cuz..

yes I sell and have a store on ebay its called Alley Flos' Antiques
named after my great grandma Alice and grandma Florence
It is alot of fun selling on ebay I average about 10-20% profit on my items
but I like the hunt part of the items if they sell they sell if not I give them away to charity or friends. Its a nice part time hobby

I do machine quilting for people. I use an Elna 7200 Quilters pro Sewing Machine. I built me a 4X8 sewing table and put the machine down in the table. I charge$30.00 to machine quilt a baby quilt following a pattern, and $75.00 for a queen size following a pattern or free motion. These are the prices for these two sizes to give you an example of how much I charge. To bind it by machine, I charge $15.00 for a queen size. By the time I press, sandwich it together, and then sew it, I don't make a whole lot hourly wise, but I enjoy doing it. If I charged more, I would probably not have that many jobs. I furnished the thread, they furnish the rest. Am I way off on my price? To do a queen size quilt, it takes a lot of tugging and pushing to get it under the throat. I don't want the expense of a long-arm. I think I would rather move the quilt instead of the machine.

oy! A queen size on a sewing machine -- I'm not sure I would ever recover. There are some mid to long arm machines out there that are affordable. But the question here is making money quilting -- yes, you are charging too little if you are in it for making money. If you want some spending money and love what you are doing, then I'd say you are about right on. You won't make money doing it for the prices you are charging. At least that is my experience.