I know, but this is how my brain works..... for anyone who's read my posts, yes you're right, I haven't even completed my first quilt yet ----- but I'm getting so excited about this I Spy quilt (that I haven't even started yet) that I'm thinking about making them for friends kids - and then possibly putting some in my booth at the farmers market..... this is where I want to be dragged down - with all the time involved in a quilt, even a small one, is it really possible to make a decent profit?


(I've been dreaming about putting an invisible zipper in one of the squares so there can be a secret pocket - doesn't that sound fun!? :roll: :lol: )

Looks like the quilting bug has taken another victim - welcome!

I'm afraid we can't possibly stop you from dreaming... it's all part and parcel of the quilting bug. lol! There's no escape!

Regarding making a profit, I've given up and just make them for family and friends as gifts because I love making them. Some people just don't seem to realise the cost of the fabric plus the amount of hours put into making a handcrafted quilt.

You can actually see the thought process as you go through explaining the the costing... "Oh, I can buy one cheaper at 'such-a-shop'.
No they can't, actually, because each handcrafted quilt is individually made from high quality fabric and and not mass produced.

Keep dreaming and have fun
Joanne

If we didn't have dreams, we'd never make goals.....
and if we didn't make goals, we'd never have intentions.....
and if we didn't have intentions, we'd never get anywhere.

DREAM BIG

We all dream, don't feel bad! Regarding making a profit - I worked really hard on my website and have had it up and running for about 6 months. I've had 900 visits and no takers. Most of my quilts are for king and queen size beds. Then I have wall hangings, table runners and pillows advertised there. Needless to say, I gave up, left the website there for looking at and don't expect to sell anything.

I don't feel bad even in the slightest, it's been so much fun to quilt, I never started with selling in mind anyway. Just listened to family who said I should try to sell my things.

Good luck on your endeavors and your first quilt, don't be discouraged at all along the way! :D :D :D

There's no cure that I'm aware of...once bitten by the Qbug, forever affected...it'll find its way into aspects of your life with little or no outside help. The good news is that you'll be so happy about it that you'll seek out others to share joy, ideas, help, instruction, etc. I'm thinking that b.zang said it best, "DREAM BIG" ! Quilting doesn't provide most of us a way to make a living...but it does such a wonderful job of making our lives better. Good luck to you in all your endeavors.

It's like me not to pick the high-profit business adventures - but at least they do involve creativity. It is good to have a pin stuck in my bubble though - I will dream about things to make for friends & family - but as far as sellling, sounds like it'd be good to set that idea aside!

I think people that make a profit quilting are rare. And even those who do profit over the cost of materials and such are generally not making much for their labor.

Quilters quilt because they like to quilt.

This is soooo true!!! :D:D:D

What everyone says is true...those that sell quilts for a decent price are far and few between. BUT!!! I am sure that there are many kids in your family or group of friends, who would love to have one of your I Spy quilts!!! I love your idea of a secret pocket too!!! :D:D:D

Gee, I wonder if Picasso ever asked his friends to keep him from drawing three eyes on a face? Stop dreaming? R U KIdding? Dream away. It feeds the creative beast inside.

All quilters dream of quilts LOL
so go ahead, and put that pocket in!!

I think we quilt for the love of it, not for the profit!
Live to DREAM!

I agree. Sadly, my DH and MIL believe I can make a fortune with my quilting. I'm going to make up some stuff and prove to them that it really isn't worthwhile. However, if it does work out, I will gladly apologize to them. If it does about as well as I expect, at least I will have plenty of Christmas gifts for next year. ;)

Dream on! :thumbup:

I think we all go thru that (dreaming). It sounds like your defintly hooked

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh my another one bites the dust!!! I hate to tell ya but it only gets better. :lol: :lol: Welcome to the addiction!!!

I checked into joining a cooperative a different artisans who have a shop in a local mall. To be considered you have to do a juried exhibition. After the exhibition and I was accepted, I was told the cost. The woman in charge of running the store, proudly told me she makes about $1 (one dollar) on average an hour.

I told her no thank you and walked away. I sell bowls boxes and other small items on Etsy and it takes more time to advertise than to make most of the items.

Sometimes I have more fun looking at patterns and pictures than I do actually sewing. I love to plan in my mind - would never live long enough to actually make everything.But keep a written list going as a reminder of all those great ideas (like the hidden zipper, which really sounds neat). The problem with selling craft items is that sure as anything someone will pick the most difficult or your least favorite and want four of them, all alike. Kind of jumps you from a home crafter to mass production, and where's the fun in that?

Weeelll...I dreamed of making enough money from selling a few foals every other year to pay for the horse hobby. Didn't work. So, I decided to make more quilts and sell those to pay for the horses. Didn't work. Thank goodness I have a good job! :-D I still dream and am having an awful lot of fun in the meantime--in the barn and in the sewing room. ;)

You never know till you try.

Quilting is not for profit IMHO. It is more for yourself... something you enjoy that makes you feel good and to create something out of nothing. I give quilted gifts to my family and they all LOVE them. Just a thought :)

I love the whole quilting making process (except the binding)I give a lot of them away. It makes me feel good deep inside to know I've help someone less fortunate than me. I've learned to that the more you do for the Lord the better your life is. My scrap box is like the woman in the Bible whose flour barrel didn't run out. I've sold a few quilts but I mainly give them away.

At some point you won't be able to sleep, because you're planning your next quilt. That means you'd better start sewing if you're ever gonna sleep again. As for making a profit - unlikely, other than the major pat on the back that comes when someone says 'Thankyou!"

I had a lady at work who saw a quilt in a magazine that I was looking at. She loved it, and asked what I would charge her to make one for her. I told her she would have to cover the cost of all fabrics, batting, and then I would charge for the time it took to do it. She had the same reply as others who don't know what it takes to make a quilt, in that she could probably find it elsewhere.

For me, quilting is something I enjoy doing. Just like my crocheting and hand embroidery. I enjoy doing the creative stuff. As someone said in one reply, keep a list of things you want to do. I have been collecting quilt patterns from the internet, quilt magazines, etc. and put them in sheet protectors in a binder. I probably have more projects than I will ever do, but I like having them available when I want to do them.

And next you will be buying fabric as if all the manufacturers are quitting the business in the next few weeks. You will accumulate tons of the stuff and never have enough to coordinate together, so you keep buying. Make sure you have a BIG empty closet right next to that filing cabinet that holds all your patterns and ideas.

:oops: How did you know? ;)

Welcome to the 'Dark Side'! You will never recover!

As for profitability, all I'll say is this: This is the most fun I've ever had making less than minimum wage.

Have you been peeking in my quilt room???? :hunf:

You have added an immeasurable dimension to your life. Enjoy the dreaming and the pleasure of creating wonderful quilts :-)

Welcome to our addiction. I think putting an invisible zipper in an I Spy quilt sounds great.

Sigh******So many quilts and so little time..... :wink:

I love to make the I Spy quilts (with the fussy cut hexagons) and thought that maybe I could sell the hexagons on Ebay but then I looked at the prices that people are getting for their pre-cut squares and decided it would probably cost me more in time and money than I could profit from selling them. Now, I just enjoy the process and give them to kids that I know would like them. Maybe you could make some doll quilts and sell them. You could still enjoy the process but the time and expense wouldn't be so great that it would discourage people from buying them. Good luck with your dreams :thumbup:

I agree with all the comments. I recently made 9 doll quilts for a church bazaar sale. I priced them at $20 to $25 since that is an American Doll quilt price on line. The only two that sold were ones (of five) that I also included a sleeve and hanging rod so they could be a wall hanging. Granted this was only for 10 hours of selling total, but we sold about 80 % or more of the other soft goods on the table. I am always able to sell quilted purses, totes, table runners, etc. quite easily, but price them just barely covering fabric costs. These profits go to the church anyway, the actual costs are a donation.

Like many others, the sewing and creating are the means for me to get paid in hours of enjoyment. I do this to enjoy the process and any extra is a bonus! ( in my case, fundraising for the church.)

P.S. Maybe we also need to think of this leisure time activity for what it is and not feel a need to justify the expense - those who golf, play tennis, do woodworking, have a sporty or antique car, sail a boat, (fill in the blank______)etc. don't seem to feel a need to justify the investment of time and money. We may need to relax a bit and just enjoy!

You are so right Fabric=fun - I do need to just think of this as my hobby. Unfortunately when time & money are so limited I do drift to trying to find a way to profit somehow, but I think this needs to just stay a fun pursuit. Wonderful comments! All what I needed to hear. :thumbup:

I have some several quilt over the years. We had a small photo business in town and I was to stay in our shop for walk in business. I told my husband that only way I would tend the shop is if I could sew and display my quilts.
I didn't make a living from my quilts, but was able to sell 10-12 quilts a year (about the limit I was able to produce) and lots of little quilted items.
I'm contemplating trying to sell some of my quilts I have on hand on Itsy.
I would say dream on maybe you will discover a little nitch some where you can display and sell.

I agree it's hard to get what we feel is fair value for our quilts. An option to this would be to make it, photograph it, then give it to a charity and take the tax deduction based on what you feel is fair. That way someone will get the enjoyment of your creation who didn't have the means to purchase it (making it even more valuable to them) and probably really had the need for it and you won't have to wonder whether the final recipient who received it as a gift from the purchaser decided to line dog's crate with it. (Wow - that was a long sentence. Sorry. Still shell-shocked from yesterday.)