here is a perfect example of why people do not understand how much money, time and love is put into a quilt.

http://youtu.be/pkLBzgAxm_E

WHen asked why they are expensive I simply tell them there are much cheaper ones at Wal-Mart that might suit them better. I refuse to justify why I would charge you more for something that takes 7-10 yards of fabric @ $10 plus work, batting, etc. I just quilted a queen top and the thread alone cost me $16

yep... and why is that? How can it be that a man's shirt at walmart, already made, can actually be purchased for minimum $10, I couldn't buy the fabric for that much less, fabric and time to make it, and lordy lordy, the cost of fabric for a queen size quilt, minimum $150, and don't even think about adding the time in to make it, and they're selling it for $30... something just ain't square with the world!

I could only watch it, at work, couldn't turn the volume on.

Did they at any time mention WHERE the quilts were made??

Of course, there are a lot of people who won't pay any attention to that.

Knowing the actual cost of material and time, that's really depressing.

Mass produced, probably in China by ppl on what we wouldn't consider a living wage. Not comparable in any way to what we make. If that is what ppl want to spend their money on, and think they've got a 'bargain', we can't do anything about it. Make your quilts for those who WILL appreciate them. :-D

Anyone that says a quality made quilt cost is expensive I say yes it would seem expensive if you don't know about quilts or the making of one and then I tune them out.

Either the fabric is super super cheap or the fabric we buy have a real gross markup. For the workmanship that someone put into it, they must have gotten paid less than $1.00 an hour.

It was thin and flimsy too..

Because they pay someone in a foreign country pennies to sew them!

I noticed that too.

The people that are in the factories making them are doing good if they're earning $2 per DAY. That's why.

They are made in China and the people who do the sewing(including children) get paid almost nothing for their labor. Plus the materials are very low quality.

I bought many of these before I learned to make my own. They don't last a year on the bed before the seams come undone and the fabric wears through. Very flimsy fabric compared to what we buy for quilts.

You know, I used to think that quilts were expensive, but that was before I started quilting. Now I understand. But what can beat a home sewn quilt!

I was in China several times and once visited the 'labor camps' where these cotton products are made. The dorms that the workers live in you wouldn't let your dog stay there. The workers are paid only several dollars a day. It is truely horrible. And.......that goes on thru out the whole far east, India and many other third world countries.
I just heard a radio program today: the guest speaker was a member of congress. He has started a web site so you can discover what products are made with child and SLAVE labor. He said jewelry, cosmetics and cotton goods are the hardest to track the sources. I'll have to see if I can find the site and post it.........!

I completly agree. My sister ask me how much it would take to make a quilt with horses on it. Her MIL wanted to pay me for it. I told them it would be at least 100 $ for material and she said OH really that is alot. I said. Have you ever priced a Amish made quilt?? They are usually at least 700 around here. Needless to say they have not been pursing the idea.

I hope you do, I'd be very interested to see it!

I like homemade verses store bought any day. I want something that no one else has. I frame my own photos as art and work on my own quilts. I am not always good with patterns with patterns but they are mine.

Cheap is cheap!

I can't look at these without thinking of the conditions in which they are made. Man's inhumanity to man.

cheap fabric
cheap labor
cheap product
you get what you pay for
It won't last them many years as a quality quilt

people say the same thing about animal vet care and stuff being to expensive

I was at Kmart the other day and found some "quilts" for sale. They were cheater quilts.

I prefer the ones I make over the store things.

Back when our town had a quild we did retreats and invited the public to come and see us at work. Well, I was working on a $485.00 Thimbleberry Quilt kit the Christmas Village(Bought it from a friend who was starting up a quilt shop and on line store) One lady really liked the quilt and asked me if I sell my quilts. I said yes....she offered me $200. for the one I was working on. After I stopped laughing I told her the price of the fabric. She nearly fainted and I still have the quilt top. hmmm...need to quilt that one.

This is the site where I heard the radio program. You can hear it on a podcast:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2011/se...our-slave-map/

(program about how many things Americans buy that were made by "slave labor"!)
Ambassador at Large, senior advisor to the Secretary of State and director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Luis CdeBaca, and the president of Slavery Footprint, Justin Dillon, talk about forced labor and measuring a person's slavery "footprint."

These things still exist in this world today!

How sad. Mass produced in China know doubt. There is a YouTube site showing them sewing them one right after the other in sweat shops.

Tell her when the cheap one falls apart to come and see you for the real deal.

The fabric was flimsy and the quilting was VERY minimal. You can see that when it is wrapped around the lady drinking the coffee.

Yes, it does, and even in our own country, as well- we have an upcoming conference in our town addressing human trafficking.

Thanks for the link!

exactly what i noticed

SHAZAM! Perhaps I should stock up on a few of those. If I sold them for half of just the materials cost for one of my regular quilts, I'd have a get-rich-quick scheme going on. :-P

Nope, but I bet it's China where they make cheap fabric and cheap labor! I have Chinese quilts but I use them for everyday, my handmade ones I never let the kids play on or the dogs and cats jump on!

You're right on. You can take one guess where it was imported from and the cheap labor even if it may be hand done.

As it costs me approximately $300 in material alone, to make a Queen sized quilt,I wonder how much they are paying the people in India to make those quilts?

people don't understand the love and hours of work we put into a quilt, not to mention the cost of fabric, batting and thread. remember the utube about the binding? the lady bound an entire quilt in seconds while her "overseers" stood around. it's the opposite with designer clothing - it is so expensive because their name is in it but it is made by these same people that make no money

It was never said that they were handmade. They did look very thin and flimsy

My husband was a buyer with Sears, he's now retired. I had the opportunity to tour the Kellwood factory where they make, or made not sure if they're still in business, quilts and comforters. They put the fabric on a frame and a machine does all the sewing and stitching. It take about half an hour, give or take a few minutes, to do one quilt.

If you want something custom, that's what it is custom, and everything custom costs more. I don't sew for the public any more.

I do believe our fabrics are over priced. I took sewing in school for six years (7-12 grade). I am 73 years old. It use to be profitable to make your own clothes. You could make a classy dress or suit at far less than you could purchase one of the same quality. Not many people make clothes any more because it's simply not worth the cost and effort unless you are going for some special look. I'd like to know what fabric prices look like if you are buying wholesale. Most of our quilting fabrics are NOT made in America.

My son-in-law(the fisherman) asked me why I didn't just buy one of these quilts. My reply was"why don't you just buy a can of tuna?" 'nuff said

Good one!!

I bought a "quilt" (and i use that term loosely) from a major retail store for $20 (king size) took it home and washed it and spent an entire month sewing it back together!
It is so thin, the batting is annorexic, but it makes a nice "blanket" since i fixed it. you DO get what you pay for!

Take your homemade quilt to this store and hold it next to the store product!!!!! Keep a cheap quilt in your stash to show the difference to those purchasing Your labor of love!!!

lusews