suezquilts

I agree, that many people want to take advantage of your skill. Everyone is looking for a deal, my husband is Htg/Air conditioning teacher, many times someone asks him to come look at there a/c, he fixes it and they'll ask what do I owe you, he says whatever you think its worth, they hand him a $20 which doesn't even pay him gas for him to get there. Taking advantage of someone with a kind heart.
I usually give people a good deal on a quilt if they are my friends. But my husband has his brothers neighbor, people he doesn't know, and once this happens, they expect him to keep their furnace going for 10 plus years.
Moral of the story, up front say $250 plus cost of materials... (that is what I estimated for a t shirt quilt, start to finish)
kind heart is great, but it doesn't pay the electric bill.

mimiknoxtaylor

This has been what I've learned to do also over the years. I've even offered to help people learn how to do it on their own but after a trip to the fabric store they change their mind

Dawn227

I enjoyed virtualbernie's reply as well as others "take them shopping."
But don't forget to add in the cart quilting notions, pins, needles, cutting mats, rulers, cutting implements, starch, threads batting like you were just making a quilt for the first time. Hey you had to prepay for all that too. Let alone all the machines you may use. Add up all that stuff they forget about too. Then when they get shocked, and snotty tell them your not even asking for payment of education! Not to say the sewing time. See what happens then. If you use a LQS ask them if they mind you setting up a basket of notions like mentioned and add them up. Explain why and you would even be willing to put them away afterward too.

May even be a good idea for LQS to have a pre set basket on display for gift giving ideas
I also have an embroidery machine people think you push a button so I set up a time for them to come sit a spell while I do something simple like putting on a name or worse yet digitizing the logo. Why do they think you shouldn't get the 75.00 logo charge. . I seldom get asked
I prefer to do what I want, not what I have to do. Much more fun that way.
dawn227
Rochester NY

coopah

Yes, it did hurt, but what really made it laughable was to see a handmade quilt on the gift table at the reception! It was lap sized and a preprinted panel fabric, which is fine, but IMHO, not the level of quilt that I had shown her. So the wedding couple received an "old, ugly quilt" anyway. It was probably mean of me to think it funny, and I never mentioned it to the mother. After that experience, when I showed the friend another quilt, I mentioned how much it cost from initial fabric to the cost of having it quilted. Her eyes popped! So, sometimes it's better to wait and educate folks than ask for an apology. It did hurt, though, and I have stopped sharing my quilts that way.

quilter56

This is a great idea I have been trying to come up with some formula. Thank you for sharing this. I used it to compare to some I have sold and this is very close and much easier than the way I was doing it.

k9dancer

Kelley, you have a good heart. However, at some point, you may realize that the name you have out there is that of one others can (and will) take advantage of. If you do not value your services, others will not, either.

seamstome

My stock reply is no but I can teach you how to do this and help you make one if you are interested. Nobody ever takes me up on it.

I gave that black white and red purse to a charity over the weekend. It was stuffed with 350 bucks worth of wrapped items so they had to bid on it blind just knowing that the "stuff" was worth $350....thought that would be fun. One of the more affluent women in the group quit bidding at 200 and then came over to ask me if I would make her one just exactly like that. No but you can bid on that one!

breezyquilts

I have a lot of people ask if my quilts are for sale or ask if I will make them one and my answer is no. They would have to get in line behind my ufo's and it is a very long line. Every now and then, I will make one to order, but very seldom. I made a small quilt for one of my patients, his wife had asked me to. He is 90 yrs old. It was a picture of the ship he served on in Canada. He actually was in the service in the USA and Canada, served in the navy for both!! Amazing. I had his wife sneak a picture of him on the boat. It was a such a surprise to him, he actually cried when I gave it to him. Made me cry. I did not charge him for it, I just wanted to do it for them. His wife came in a week later and gave me a thank-you card with $50 in it!!
I had a woman tell me awhile back that I could make a lot of money on my wall rugs, even up to $40!! I smiled and thanked her for the compliment and shook my head when out of view. I love quilting and so far I don't need to sell them. So many people do not realize the time and money and skills that go in to them.

lakekids

I have had similar experiences. I have made T-shirt quilts for some of the students from my children's high school. I have charged between $150 - $250 depending upon the size of the quilt. I have had several people decide not to do it when I tell them the cost. Most recently I explained to someone who asked that for a Twin size quilt it would take 6-7 yards of fabric for the back at $10/yard. Then there was the cost of batting, and thread for another $30 dollars. There would be additional fabric needed if borders or sashing was added. In addition I would need something for my time - designing/piecing/quilting. She said she would gather the shirts - but I am not holding my breath.

JudyMN

I was asked to make a quilt for a friend. I gave her the materials list and asked her to choose her color combinations at the LQS. She was astounded at the price and decided not to have me make the quilt even with free labor.