i'm sure she thinks 61,000 is a steal.

you have to remember she is an award winner. this 61,000 quilt makes her money every year thru winning shows at 5000-15000 a show plus she can have it on display at museums.

i'm sure this 61,000 quilt makes her at least $20,000 a year - why in the world would she sell it for nothing.

once she sells it she's lost an considerable annual income from it and the buyer must compensate her for that loss.

there's a difference in what people do for family and friends and what is sold on the open market.

i think the difference is what is considered a quilt and what is considered a work of art - which was a thread last week.

these are art quilts and people are willing to pay considerable amount of money for art that they wouldn't be willing to pay for a quilt that gets thrown on the bed, the pets and kids lay all over it, it get dirty and needs to be washed.

no one pays thousands for an object that is meant to be treated this way. if you want thousands for your work art quilts are the way to go.

I would, of course, LOVE to sell for those etsy prices :wink: (didn't look at the bryert site)

BUT... I checked out the first 21 items on that page (priced highest first). Only ONE of those hopeful sellers had ever sold a quilt on etsy. We don't know how much that one seller made on her sole sale - it could have been $10 or $10,000. None of the rest of the people trying to sell $5000 quilts have been successful. I can go and list a quilt there for $5000 if I want to, but it doesn't mean much unless someone is willing to pay that much. I think their prices are a little optimistic. On the other hand, as I think I said in another thread recently, customers can be drawn in that way, to see what else you have for sale. It's a marketing ploy.

once you get past the 1st page of the most expensive quilts at the etsy link, the prices get more reasonable.

materials, tools, and labor are just the starting point. complexity and originality of the pattern and the quilting make a huge difference, too.

i'm still making all sorts of excuses for not diving into freemotion (or anything more complicated than a curvy line, for that matter! :lol: ). and most of my quilts are crib or lap-sized. but if i ever get over my fear of freemotion and make up my mind to wrassle the big ones, watch out. ;-)

just because none of us have the guts to charge that much doesn't mean some of our work isn't worth that much.

I had a neighbor in California trying to sell a nice, very large vase at his garage sale. It looked antique, but he wasn't sure what the value was, so he priced it at $15. This is before the internet, where you could look up things on Ebay etc and get an idea of value.

Anyway, no one wanted it. So he had another garage sale a while later and priced the vase at $500. People were arguing over it and it sold.

Maybe these wildly priced quilts are supposed to trigger people to think it really is a collectible item. Most people are completely clueless about even the cost of good fabric, let alone what it takes to make a quilt that will last.

People ask me to make them one, but turn very pale when I tell them what my time and efforts are worth, whether they provide the fabric or not. They can't comprehend my work being so much more than the ones they could order for $69 from QVC!!!

My grandmother used to knit gorgeous afghans for family. Her neighbor offered to buy the yarn and couldn't understand why Gramma said no thanks. That was at least 500 HOURS of her time to knit it, and who wants to do that for free?

Bottom line: Make quilts for yourself and friends or family because you enjoy it. If someone wants to pay you to make one, don't cheat yourself. Charge for your hours, the supplies, everything!

I usually sell my quilts locally and my prices could never come near those. I have seem in person many expensive quilts (Like those made by Libby Lehman) and they are worth the price; in materials alone, not counting the time and artistry involved. Also I have seen paintings sell for thousands that look like they were painted by a 3 year old kid. So why not give quilting a position of importance in the art world?

A friend of mine sells my quilts in NYC and I can ask at least 3 times more than I do at home. People are willing to pay and like to see innovation. Traditional quilts don't sell well in the big city at all. The more unusual the better it sells.

Maria

All of this is very exiting to me to see more of the art quilt world and to see that they have value of some sort to someone i quilt for myself and for hobby only but i know that #1 my design is very original to me and all the hard work and attention to detain that has gone into it plus by being dareing enough and with help from here ive learned so much through the process. chris

This is such an interesting discussion to me because my first show of my art quilts coming up and I have to price them. On the one hand, they are like my children and I can't see parting with something I spent 4 months on for less than $3000.00 but I don't know how that will go over. I don't expect to sell anything but I'd like to have a chance. I just talked to a nationally known professional who told me she basically charges by the square foot since nobody cares how long it took.

Actually, since I've posted this I've been looking through "art quilts" and learning a little bit. It's a completely different process than traditional quilting. I can see where it would bring a high price, but $16,000? I'd love to learn though just so I could make a ton of dragons and hoard them all for myself. lol

Next time someone cries about $300 for a quilt I will send them to these sites! I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but most of these are UGLY! Sorry but I just do not get it.

the big difference i see with my art quilts vs. traditional quilts is that i don't have to follow the strict rules of traditional quilting.

with my art quilts i'm able to do whatever inspires me.

here's a link to many dragon patterns. you should purchase one and become a "fiber artist" its so much fun.

http://shiboridragon.com/Dragons.htm