My quilting is a hobby that I love and no way does it ever take me 750 hrs to hand quilt even a queen size quilt and I have done 230 quilts in the last 10 years.I don't quilt to get rich just love to do it.

You sound like my DH I love to quilt I LOVE to give quilts as Gifts and I Love the quilts I've made for our children and our home!! Can you put a Price on Love??

I went to a class where the quilt instructor (well known) said that she hires women in Indonesia to assemble and sew her quilt designs, then mail them back to be sold under her name. She said she can't invest the time to personally make the quilt and make any profit.
How many professional quilters take that route? Overseas labor costs even apply to quilting, which is no different than the ready made quilt prices in dept stores.

Wow, and I have had people ask me to make a quilt for them and when I tell them the materials alone would be $300 to $400, they say no way is a blanket worth that much!! I guess I need to have this handy.

Several times, I made an estimate :shock:
can only come to the conclusion ignorance is Bliss and enjoy my hobby.

When I gave a potential customer the cost of making just a lap size quilt you can just imagine the disbelief about the price.

Most of us quilt for the joy of creating something unique. It's a creative hobby. I don't think about the value of my time (The old joke ends "What's time to a hog?")

When I fed my friend's dogs when she was out of town, I noticed the full gun case that her husband has along with his 4-wheeler, his bass boat, a couple of trailers, and his giant truck to pull all that. That surely is expensive deer chili and fish they are eating.

I quilt and am also a woodworker. I have never and will never make something to sell.

I have people asking me all the time "what would it cost for you to make me XXX". I just reply "I don't make items to sell". Anyway they would be shocked if I told them what it would cost to make the item.

I prefer to give items to friends and family and see the surprises on their faces.

Both hobbies are just for fun and I do enjoy both of them.

However, with nice weather her I do have another item that keeps me away from both.

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AMEN

Queen quilt:
Materials:
Fabric 12 yds at 10 a yard, 120.00
Batting 14.00
Thread 6.00 *includes thread to quilt it with.
total materials 140.00

Time to quilt, 12 hours @ 20.00 = $240.00

So, about $380.00 to make you a queen size quilt.
No way it would take 70 hours to quilt. I make quilts using my Qbot & freehand custom... A simple panto or stars n loops would take about 4 hours...6 hours tops.

I don't count the time staring at the top, figuring out what I want to put on it.

Marge

Marge - curious - do you machine or hand quilt?

Very interesting.

I machine quilt. I have a TL18LS & Qbot (computerized quilter).

I do a lot of freehand quilting.

Shoot, to hand quilt..2 years wouldn't be enough time.

We have a group in the next town over that hand quilt. Sudan, Texas senior citizens. They do a wonderful job too!

Now, for photo or t-shirt quilts, it costs a bit more. They are more labor intensive.

the t-shirt quilts, I charge $15.00 per t-shirt (that includes, backing, sashing, batting, quilting & binding)...10 shirts = 150.00 USD... queen size takes 25-30 shirts, without sashing.

I charge $12.00 per 8"x10" photo block (copy paper size). If it's on legal size, it's $15.00 per page. You can cram as many photos on that page as you wish...in a collage format.
I make them for others to use in quilts, or when I make a quilt. They are trimmed to 8" squares for a single Irish Chain quilt. The cost of the rest of the quilt would be extra. 30 photos in a queen size quilt would surely add up!
Usually I put three or 4 in the quilt.

This is the only 2 sided photo/t-shirt quilt I will ever do. It cost the customer about $1,000 USD.

Order started with a t-shirt quilt & 1 photo...next thing I knew, a box of photos arrived, with note to use as many as I could!

I offered to make these two seperate quilts at no extra charge, nope wanted one quilt. So, I ended up having to quilt through the photos (I usually just outline the subjects and the photo itself.

LOL -Hi from Liberty Hill TX. I ask which, because I have several (in particular a wht on wht) that I know took a LONG time. I had never heard of a 'machine quilter' (except perhaps in commercial quilting). I didn't start quilting till late in life - in my 50's over 20 yrs ago. I have a roll up type frame the width of a quilt & have mentally 'worked out' a lot of things happening in my life sitting at it.

Guess it's a good thing I LOVE hand quilting, as I've never had the $$$$ nor an area BIG enough to support one. I see SO MANY machine done quilts on here. You ladies who machine quilt are quite talented to be able to maneuver one.

I didn't start quilting till late in life - in my 50's over 20 yrs ago. Don't remember seeing but a few at quilt shows & now they are in the majority & the hand quilted have to have a division of their own there are so few. Not sure if that is good or bad???

I just get so much pleasure putting each stitch in a quilt & thinking of the person it will be going to. With 2 kids, 4 grandkids, 9 great grands & 3 great-greats, I won't run out of quilts I need to make. :lol:

Have a blessed evening & may all your quilts be filled w/love.

Here is a photo quilt I made for a customer that wanted a quilt done in colors of the period of when her parents married, which she thought ancient times, lol.
Since she had very limited funds, and wanted even the pics on muslin...I gave her options for a smaller quilt with more photos.
Later, all she could get was a torn photo of her parents wedding day photo.
So, liking the lady (girl actually, not long out of high school)...I made this queen size quilt from unbleached muslin (even the pic is on unbleached muslin) & some 40's to 80's prints I had on hand, a few of which I tea dyed, after treating the fabrics with Bubble Jet Set 2000 (to insure the tea dye would be permanent...and it worked!).
The one photo Misty had was missing the bottom left 1/4 of the photo, and had a rip up to the mom's eye. I used three different photo editing softwares to fix the photo, turned it to sepia tone, and printed on the muslin using BJSet2000 to treat the muslin first.
This quilt cost Misty $260.00 three years ago.

I did finish a hand quilted top for a church group last year while I was laid up with a broken ankle. I do a lot of hand and machine embroidery also.

Oh my - that is wonderful - although I totally do not understand all that went into restoring the pic - it is wonderful. :cry:

Some people say oh I can buy it cheaper at the store. While that may be true the workmanship and the quality of fabric and work is no where near the store's. I want to make a King Wedding Ring and the fabric I want is going to cost me a bit. I saw one at a store and the fabric was like a gauze fabric not anywhere near the beautful fabrics we can buy but I also know from all the crocheting I have done and sold people want it for nothing. Most people don't realize the cost of materials and the number of hrs put into these crafts & such. I have also told someone a price for something and I didn't even price it as high as I should have and they say oh I'll let you know. I make mostly everything for gifts or for charity. Sometimes people really need what I have so I would rather give it away to someone who will really appreciate it. Interesting topic. Thanks. Sue

I was asked to make 2 tee shirt quilts for a local organization. I said I would charge $100 each for labor for piecing them and binding them. That doesn't sound unreasonable after reading this. Thanks for sharing.

I agree. I do mostly for family, friends and charity.
the young girl I did the quilt for was right out of school, and was trying to buy her mom and dad's respect & love. I think I spent more time listening to her heartbreaking life story than I did making the quilt. She's pretty indepentant now...but it was a tough time of life for her.

the Double sided quilt was for a man in Washington State, who's daughter started out at age 3 and worked her way through college playing softball. It was a fun quilt to do, but would have came out better had he let me quilt them as two seperate tops.

That's very reasonable! I underprice and I think your prices are even lower than mine!

Enjoy the process, take lots of pics to document the work.

Let the charity have pics to show the process also.

Chances are you won't either, since she hasn't already replied. But I think you are right in informing her of the cost of materials, which may really bee too cheap at $75.00 each, and then letting her know that you will show her how. Sounds like one of my nieces- wants me to do it all and expects it to be FREE! Hopefully yours isn't that way. Sorry but I just had to chime in on your post.

I see each quilt, I make for a loved one, as a hug that will be here when I am gone.

My quilts are for pure joy but this is very interesting.

I think I will enlarge this and hang it with our quilts at the Fall Fair in Oct. Just to give everyone who comes in to view them and idea of what they cost and why one can't make one overnight.

I did speak with a young man who said he had always wanted a quilt and had looked at some in stores but he didn't like them, and knew that they were just assembly line produced so to speak. He ask me if I made quilts for the public, and when i told him no, that people really wouldn't want to pay what they were worth. I told him the story about a lady at work asking what I would charge for a DWR like the one I made for my daughter several years ago. When I informed her that I wouldn't do another like it for less than $1,500.00, this young man informed me that he would be willing to pay that or even $2,500 for a "handmade" quilt he called it, because he knew it would be quality made and definitely worth the price. I almost fell over with his remark, most people would have laughed and said "no way would I ever pay that kind of money for a quilt". He ask me to think about making him one, which I may do later on, but not right now, too busy trying to get my quilts going for Christmas.

I totaly agree with you Pete

I know it is expensive to make a quilt. I will make them for family members if they pay for the fabric. Sewing, crochet, plastic canvas items, doilys, cross stitch is a hobby, but now a days it has become expensive. I just stick with the crafts, which, is less expensive, easy and quick. Thanks for sharing.

I started out as a scrap booker. I never really paid attention to what each page cost until we had water damage and I was faced with replacement costs. When I started to calculate out the cost of the actual pg, the paper used, the cost of developing pictures,( and the cost of the film, if used) the embellishments, the ALBUM, the pg protectors..... It came to about $500 per album. AND that did NOT include the time to complete the Pages.

I'm very selective in who I give home made gifts to. If I don t think they will appreciate the time involved.... They aren't getting one!

Did you not notice this quilting cost referred to HAND quilting? Not all quilts are done on longarms; or even home domestic machines.

Jan in VA

Nope..and I also didn't include the 200.00 for making the quilt top...my bad... thanks for pointing out the hand quilting part.

Might pay for lots of stash and other gifts....IMHO

Just last year a friend of mine wanted twin size quilts for her 5 children, I told her I'd charge her for the material's plus 20 for labor and other costs, when I quoted her 75-150 per quilt depending on pattern and quilting, she didn't talk to me for 3 months. Guess she figured I was trying to take her for a ride!

My husband was also very shocked when he first heard me give estimate to people on the material cost of the quilts, to get started before an labor went into them!

All of my quilts are donated and I spend at least $800 - $1000 per year for fabric and batting. I usually get a large share of fabric at garage sales. I'd croak if I had to buy all my fabric at retail! I keep track of every cent I spend for tax purposes.

Going to print this out and put with each quolt I make. If the quilt is a gift they will know how much I love them to spend that much money and time on them. If its for sale then people will know what a bargain they are getting since I could never charge that much for my time since I enjoy quilting, if I give it for charity then they know where to start the bidding. Reading this thread and the one about feed back on quilts given as gifts made me realize how much we don't value ourselves or our work. We will overpay for things we want that are from well know lables or stores but put little value on what we do. Handmade or homemade used to mean something.

I will print this calculation out and hang it on the wall in my sewing room! And calculating the prices in Euro would add another 20%. I order almost all my fabric from the states, that's cheaper than buying fabric in Germany. And speaking of quiltshops in Germany: they are few and far between - but we do have them!!
Greetings from Germany! Tirolgirl

I agree; my quilts and other sewing are my therapy for constant difficult and chaotic work days. I can't put a price on the return I receive. You did not add the cost of a long arm quilter which I know some of us use but your other calculations are right on, if I did not receive such personal enjoyment, I would take up a much less expensive hobby. I know the quilts I donate help others find solace and comfort. Again, it is hard to put a price for that. The other enjoyment I receive is being a part of a large community of people who enjoy quilting. The board has helped me in more ways that I can count; without quilting, I would not have been able to know such wonderful on-line "friends".

Jan - THANKS for pointing out this is for HAND quilting - I had assumed it HAD to be. I hand quilt & when I 1st started back in the 80's, really never heard or seen of much machine quilting in the general quilting world - only in the commercial.

When I 1st joined this board a couple of mo's ago I was AMAZED to hear the numbers of completed quilts by individual quilters. Then it finally dawned on me they've got to be machine quilted! (ole timers some times slows me down).

Boy was I relieved - I was really doubting myself & thought I had to be the slowest quilter in the world. Before uncle Arthr-itis visited so much - & I was in "prime quilting form" - I could do maybe 12-15 lg size quilts a yr. w/a few smaller projects thrown in!

No matter how they are finished, to me quilts still represents being wrapped in warmth & love.

Have a blessed holiday week end & may all your quilts be filled w/love.

I would post those prices in a prominent place for people to see. That's very much an eye opener...
But then you have the jerks who say "skill to sew? I can sew that." at which time you tell them..."go for it"
I don't sew for the public any more for this very reason... I have a BS in Apparel Design with 30 years experience.