Billy'swife

Help!! I've been asked to teach an art quilting class and have no idea what to charge for this service! Are any of you teachers willing to give me guidance or info? The class would be approx. six hours and would involve some travel. Thanks for your help!

Tartan

I do not teach but I would not be willing to pay more then $40 for a class if I still had to buy fabrics. How many students? Start by giving yourself a wage...$15 an hour? Some gas money for travel $20? So I would round that up to $150 and divide it by the number in class? If you have 10 students that’s only $15 each so pretty cheap for a class.
-forgot to add if there is a charge for the venue, will you be paying that or the person that asked you?

Billy'swife

Tartan......The classes would be taught to persons belonging to quilt guilds. They have the venue and would give me extra for traveling and lodging. They want to know what I need to teach the class (10-12 people) only. I want to make it worth my time, but don't want to overprice myself either. I haven't been able to find out what other "newbie" teachers charge.

dunster

I just looked at a few of the quilts you've made and posted. You are a true artist! I would be thrilled to take a class from you.

My guild charges $35 per class, and they pay the teacher from that. Sometimes they make a little money, but usually it's a loss or break-even. The venue is held at the recreation facility that a member is able to book for a minimal fee, so guild expenses are minimal. The teacher usually charges a set fee for the class, with an additional fee if there are more students than originally agreed. It does take more energy to teach a larger class! Many of the teachers supplement their earnings by requiring that all students buy a kit from the teacher. I've noticed that if the charge for the kit is not reasonable, the enrollment for the class drops. $35 is considered very low for a class here, and that price is only available to guild members. Class prices may vary in different parts of the country.

Since you are a new teacher, you might need to charge less than those with more experience teaching, but I think an hourly wage of $15 would be far too low. You will be giving up all the time that you are away from home, not just the 6 hours spent in the class. All travel expenses including meals should be covered. Maybe it would help to ask the person who invited you what the guild members normally spend on a class. It's okay to say 'no' if the reimbursement doesn't work out for you. On the other hand, this might be the start of a great new career.

Billy'swife

Duster......Thank you so much! The class I will be teaching is on confetti quilting! Your comments have been very helpful to me. I appreciate it.

petthefabric

Quilt teachers who are on the teaching circuit, usually have set fees, $350-$450. This is usually coupled with a program presentation at the guild meeting costing $350-$650 + housing, travel ($.52/mile round trip) & food. The guild decides what they can afford and what to charge. Our guild budgets for programs and charges for workshop. The workshop rarely breaks even but we try to get 10-12 participants.

cashs_mom

I just looked at your quilts. Wow! I'd definitely pay to take a class from you. I agree with Dunster. Don't short yourself. You will spend a lot of time getting written info together, kits, your examples. It all takes time and you deserve to be paid for it. I have no idea what my guild pays their speakers who also teach a workshop the following day. Our guild charges $45.00 for the workshop but the guild absorbs a lot of the cost of the teacher.

quiltingshorttimer

please don't short yourself--as any teacher knows there is also prep time to make it a success. Our guild routinely pays $400-600 for a one day class for 20-25 people. If your class is limited to half that I would say you need to charge $300-500 for the day--remember that most Guilds subsidize their members class attendance fee. If you are requiring the purchase of a ruler, special fusible, etc then I'd go with the lower price as the teaching fee.

JJBlaine

When I used to teach quilting classes, I would charge $10 per hour per student. I would cancel the class if I did not have at least 6. So a 3 hour class would be $30. Of that, the shop kept half, and gave the students a 20% discount on supplies for the class. Some instructors took as many people as they could squeeze into the room and charge a little less, but I limited my classes to 6-10 persons.

So I would earn $30-60 per hour of class time. It might seem a bit high, but class time does not include all the time and expense I had in prepping for the class. Besides a step by step lesson plan, I would make several samples of the finished quilts in different colorways and sizes, plus make samples of each step with notes and measurements printed on them that could be passed around and examined. Also, because I kept the class size small, I was able to give personalized attention to anyone having trouble.

klswift

Both Tartan and Dunster have good advice. The fact that they are covering the cost of venue and travel means you will only be charging for the class. This would totally depend on your area. Yes, here in California it is very easy to charge $40 per student for a four hour class. In your area it might be different (or if the guild is smaller with smaller war chests). I would definitely not charge less than $15 per hour (round to $100 for a 6 hour class) with an additional expense if more than 12 students because it is very difficult to teach more than 12 in a class with any personal touch. (I prefer teach 2 - 4 person 3 hour classes in sewing and quilting in their venue or home and charge $35 per student. Larger class are done on a class by class decision.)