Commissioned Quilt
 

I was commissioned to make a quilt out of a bunch of very old sunbonnet Sue blocks. Blocks had to be squared and either built up or cut back to "size." Here is what the finished 90 x 90 quilt looks like. I don't charge for making a quilt of this type, I accept whatever they want to give me but for future quilts, what is a guideline for charging to make an entire quilt plus quilting it? In the future I want to negotiate a firm price before I start the work. Thanks for your input!!

You did a beautiful job on the quilt. For a twin size, me supplying everything I charge $350.00, I tell them right away. Prices go up according to size. I did finish 2 quilt tops for a friend. She paid me $150 for one and $125.00 for the other, they were both twin size. Hope this helps.

Hard to say. Price does vary by geographic location.
How long did it take you to complete it? What did you spend on additional materials (including batting & thread)? How much do you want to make an hour?
Your idea of getting a firm price, IN WRITING, and getting a deposit that will at least cover your outlay for materials, is excellent.

You have made orphan Sue blocks into a wonderful quilt.

Sometimes you can scare people away if you charge a fair price. Most people don't know how much fabric cost or how long it takes. When you start taking money, be very careful to know exactly what they want. I did it for 10 years and it isn't as easy as it might seem.

I would use this a a basis, and write up a contract with half down non refundable deposit and the rest on pick up. That way the customer knows up front what it cost you can even print this out for them so they can kind of have an idea how much time and labor and costs are involved. People usually expect handmade quilts to be 50-100 dollars, because of places like walmart that use cheap labor in places like china to get their product cheaply made. I personally will not work for sweatshop pay and my time is way to valuable to be underpaid. I make 30 dollars an hour at my job so why would I accept 2 dollars and hour for quilt making. Even at minimum wage here in CA which is about 10/hr you are still looking at charging them in the hundreds for your time 50 hours x 10 is 50. This is if they are providing all the materials. If they want an intricate quilt pattern they will be looking at more, as this is for a simple pattern

You did a great job with that one. The border is perfect for it.

I think trying to make something from what someone else has started is frequently more difficult to do than a start from the beginning project.

If you remember how much time you spent on that quilt- including planning/thinking about what to do with the blocks, shopping and fabric prep time, and actual "doing" time - multiply that by what you think is a reasonable cost per hour.
Remember, you are SKILLED labor. (plumber, electrician, mechanic - - - - )

Than add in your actual out-of-pocket expenses.

That might give you an guesstimate for what to ask for next time. (Be prepared to shock yourself with what you come up with.) Than be prepared to deal with what your market might bear.

Thats why I posted the picture so people can print it and show people the real cost of quilt making. It is purposely to scare people who want to underpay away from thinking they can abuse you

I agree that it does cost more than non-quilters think it does to make a quilt. And I agree that quilters should be reimbursed for their efforts, if they are doing a quilt that is not an outright gift. But does anyone else think that the costs in that picture are wildly over-estimated, both in dollars and time, especially for someone who is skilled enough to be quilting for hire?

I used to have a wedding dress business, and I still do commissions as and when I feel like it, I recently gave a price to someone to make two christening gowns from a wedding dress, way below prices quoted on etsy and customer was undecided. As dolphyngirl said I earn x$ at my daytime job and I'm not giving my time for less than that. Some people think if you are sewing from home you will do it for peanuts, my answer, get a monkey.