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Was asked by a lady how much would I charge to quilt a quilt for her. Said I needed to see it see it first. She brought it by and I agreed to do it. We never settled on a cost. Boy did I bite off more than I could chew. The quilt was flannel, back and front, and had polyester batting. Plus she wanted to use the backing for the binding. Well, learned that quilting flannel and polyester on my DSM was really hard. Plus the fact that this is the first time I had ever brought the backing to the front to bind. Anyway, I just finished it and figured I would charge maybe $40 to 50 for the work. The quilt is 64x42. Do you think that I will be charging to much?

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I dont think you are charging enough! Especially since you are doing the binding as well.

I don't think you will be charging too much. In fact, I encourage you to charge more. Don't sell yourself short. Your work is beautiful.

No way! That is too little to charge!

Your work is beautiful, and you do deserve more.

Since you didn't state the amount she will owe you, put this down as a learning experience. See what she can afford. Most non quilters do NOT understand the time it takes to quilt other people's quilts. Your feathers are very good.

First, the quilting is wonderful! I agree that $50 is not enough, but you should have agreed on a price beforehand, so you are only going to get what you get. Most quilters charge by the square inch. You did custom quilting. The rate for custom quilting usually starts at $0.025 - $0.03 per square inch, so just the quilting would be around $65 to $80. Add in the binding charge that I would estimate at about $25, and you are up around $90 to $105.
Treat this as a learning experience, and don't take another quilting job unless the terms are agreed to (and written down!) before you start.

Just wanted to say that your quilting is wonderful.

If it were me I'd charge at least $75 or $100. It turned out really nice!

i would write down the hours you spent on it, + the thread, etc. Sometimes it helps for the person to see what it really costs! I don't think non-quilters realize what a job it is...nice work by the way....

Remember all the work you put into it. If you price yourself too low, I guarantee she'll be back w more for you to do at a comparable price!!!

Are you nuts?!!!!! (Now don't get all upset, I mean that in the kindest way, honestly!)
If you are willing to do this amazing quilting on flannel and poly for that price, I'm wondering if you'd be up for doing a bunch of your great quilting on cotton piecing with thin cotton batting for others? Like me!!:):D

Please don't sell yourself short, your work is definitely worthy of its hire.:thumbup:

Jan in VA

You are so right. Yes this is my learning experience and yes, from now on there will be an agreement and I will chg by the inch. My biggest problem is I really don't think I am that good to chg so much. You ladies here on the board are soooo talented. P.S. Yes Jan in VA, I have to admit that I must have been nuts when I agreed to this. LOL

Your work is beautiful and you deserve a good price for that.

We are always our own worst critics. Your work is definitely good enough to charge the standard going rate. You did custom quilting on this and as PP stated that usually starts at .025 to .03 per square inch. The quilt is 2,688 square inches so if you take the lowest price of that you are already at $67.20 just for the quilting. Then the binding is usually charged by the linear inch and you have 212 L/I of binding. I believe the going rate for that is around .10 but that may be for an attached binding not bringing back to front. Still I feel $20 is more than fair.
I would present her with a bill for $87.20 if she balks at that you need to be able to come back and tell her how many hours you spent doing the job. I am sure if you worked it out you would be making MUCH less than minimum wage.
I agree that a price should have been agreed upon before hand but you shouldn't have to be the only one doing the learning IMHO. The person who asked you to quilt should also learn a valuable lesson from this.
You did a very nice job.

nice quilt, the quilting is pretty, and I think you should get more than you're charging.
that's a lot of work, plus you have to bind it yet. Maybe tell her moe for the binding.
your feathers look great on a DHM.

That looks great!

It's worth at least a C-note.

No idea about what to charge, but the quilting is very lovely and worth every penny you would charge.

Definitely not too much! In my opinion, too little. Please don't go with the $40 -- WAY too little!

I agree with the rest...your quilting is certainly worth the money...you would pay more than that for a panto design where I get my quilts done. Custom is way more!

I agree with Feline fanatic. You shouldn't be the only one learning a lesson here. If your customer had a price limit, she should have let you know. Neither one of you is any more to fault than the other. I'd ask for 87.20.

Start high and negotiate down. 40 - 50 $ is way too little for all the work you did!

No, not to much. But even though it was hard, you did a beautiful job and you learned a lot!!

Did she make the quilt? If so, she should understand the value of your time. If not, she has no clue. You can be the educator, but remember you represent quilters everywhere when you charge what it's truly worth in skill and time.

Love your work! I would tell her $100, then negotiate the price down to $85. (Even loves a bargain!)

Your Quilting is just stunning. When you take something in like this, You can ask what is your budget? Then you can say that will be fine your tell her it will be so much more.

I would go with one of these higher amounts recommended here instead of your initial $40-$50, and maybe take a bit off if she balks. I would worry that if you give a lower price initially, that would become your "standard rate" and she might send more business your way thinking it's always going to be that price. Probably better to have one misunderstanding now than many misunderstandings in the future

There is a lesson to be learned in this situation- have the terms and conditions agreed to and written down beforehand. One fact is obvious to me. you didn't know what you were going to be up against before you started on this project so you would not have been prepared to state a really fair price. Your quilting is beautiful. However, this time you made need to accept less than some of the board members think you should charge because you were inexperienced. I did drapery fabrication for a number of years and in the early days I endured less profit for time spent because of inexperience in pricing as opposed to inability to produce a quality product. Good luck as you talk to your customer and I hope you reach a mutually acceptable price.

Wow beautiful. I can't believe you can do such beautiful work on a DSM, its wonderful.
I know nothing abt. charging but I can see how much work is in this project. don't sell yourself short.

The last time I checked around here, quilting starts at $0.02 per square inch. Binding is extra. I would charge at least $75.

You may meet some resistance because people who want quilting done never realize what they are getting -- skilled and precise labor that may take hours. And on a DSM, at that! But I'd charge no less than $75 for this (and it's really worth $100 if you are doing the binding, too, imo).....unless she's a friend and you're partly doing her a favor.

Tell her you are giving her a special price but can't do that again. If you don't make that clear, then she will tell everyone it didn't cost much at all to have you do it and then everyone will want the same thing for the same price. You will be stuck.

Call around to long armers and see what they charge per square inch. The going rate here is .025. So two and half times your sq. inches is about $68 plus the charge for the binding...Call and see how you compare. Right now, you are under your cost in thread and time.

I agree with everyone else that $50 is a lot less than you should ask for. Use Feline Fanatic's figures and ask for an even $90. Since you didn't have anything in writing, use that as a starting point, then negotiate with her for a lesser figure, but I wouldn't go below $75. Also, don't give her the quilt until she pays you the money! That was a "learning experience" for me, and that was with a friend.

You should charge a bit more since it was a bit tough to do, and I am glad for your sake that it was not any larger. By the way, you did a gorgeous job!

Your work is beautiful. I'm sure no matter what you charge, she'll balk a little or a lot. Take heed what everyone has stated. Great guidelines to go by for the next time.

Wonderful quilting !

call longarmers in your area
 

[QUOTE=FURBALLS;7157997]Was asked by a lady how much would I charge to quilt a quilt for her. Said I needed to see it see it first. She brought it by and I agreed to do it. We never settled on a cost. Boy did I bite off more than I could chew. The quilt was flannel, back and front, and had polyester batting. Plus she wanted to use the backing for the binding. Well, learned that quilting flannel and polyester on my DSM was really hard. Plus the fact that this is the first time I had ever brought the backing to the front to bind. Anyway, I just finished it and figured I would charge maybe $40 to 50 for the work. The quilt is 64x42. Do you think that I will be charging to much?

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Call other longarmers in your area and see what they charge. Price varies a long in my area, from custom work (very high) to edge to edge with same pattern overall. Don't get in a trap where you are so cheap that others will want the same price. Charge the same as other longarmers plus the binding.

I think you're too cheap

The quilting is just great. I think you should charge more.