cindi

If I decide I’ll do one (which is rare) I do the same as Peckish. I’m not giving away my services for a couple hundred dollars. My last quilt sold for $2000 and it was a wall hanging.

However, most of the time I say either A) I don’t make quilts for others, B) I have a 2 year waiting list, or C) you can’t afford me. A, B, or C is totally dependent on how much I like that person, rofl!!!

Tartan

If I was inclined to give a donation because it was a great cause that I wanted to support, I would ask them…..I can give a $200 donation or make a quilt ( my own design with fabric from my stash). Chances are they would rather have the cash donation. If they would still rather have a quilt, I would look through my quilt inventory and donate one already made. I keep a few baby and smaller quilts on hand in case I need a gift.

LAF2019

I was recently commissioned to make a tshirt quilt for someone. my first response was "you don't want to pay someone to make you a quilt!" She was not turned off when I said that, so we discussed it further. I agreed to make her a queen size quilt. She is of course supplying the tshirts, so I considered that as a factor of the amount of fabric I do not have to buy. also, the block design is simple and there is nothing intricate in the piecing that I have planned. I charged her $900. She gave me 450 up front and will give me the remainder when it is finished. I emphasized that she cannot have an expectation of it being done in a month. She was not concerned and said she would like it before 2024.
I feel like I am charging her a fair price,as I expect to spend 100-200 on material (backing, batting, interfacing, sashing, thread, etc) and the rest is accounting for my time. perhaps others would charge more (or less?), but we both felt comfortable with that arrangement. She is not a close friend or anything. If she was, I would have probably done it for 300-400.

GingerK

I too, would have quoted something around $300. It is for a school and that would certainly make me be more conservative with my price. Education is expensive and helping even a little bit (whether for your family's school or any other) is my idea of helping my community.

On another note, we just found out that the son of good friends, got engaged. And the first thing I said, was "Oh goodie! I get to make a quilt!" I don't think any of my recipients actually knows how much money goes into their gift and that is ok with me. I just hope they recognize how much love comes with the gift.

cathyvv

Yes. My response would be, "You can't afford me." That would be accompanied by a smile.

laynak

I have to send out quilts for long arm quilting and it’s .03/sq.in. = $144. Fabrics are avg $12-$15/yard and est 7 yards. Batting about $30. Binding charges around $45 for that size. Thread est $10. Just supplies, LAQ and binding labor is about $325. Plus, do you make a label? By what process & cost? Then, add what you charge for your labor, hours and mileage to determine a ‘minimum’ charge you are willing to accept.

quiltedsunshine

The old fashioned way of doing it was cost of materials X 2. The rest was a labor of love.

quiltsfor

My answer is "you can't afford me"

Basically, I don't want a quilting business. I quilt because I enjoy it. I don't want it to be a 'job', where I have deadlines, and need to get up in the morning and feel like I have to go to work. Plus, I'm at that point in my life that I really don't want to deal with people who expect perfection in every way since they are 'paying' and feel entitled to demand the impossible total perfection of every seam and every stitch. I don't have the patience, or the time. It's a whole different world out there today, then it was in the 'leave it to Beaver' era.

Nope, nope, nope.... you can't afford me.

WMUTeach

I just finished the top for a commissioned quilt and I will think long and hard about doing it again. It was for friends and I knew from the start that I would not be paid for my time. That was my gift to them for their anniversary, They paid for the materials. What I discovered in the end is they wanted a bed spread not a quilt. It is HUGE. The quilt ate up way to much time and thinking because the pattern was complicated, a good challenge, and it had to be increased and expanded to meet the 98 X 108 finished size.

Now to your question I would say choose a pattern that looks complicated but isn't and perhaps one you have done previously. Set reasonable timeline and date for completion. Calculate generously for the quilting cost, whether you do the quilting or send it out. Don't give in to extraneous requests for your quilt. Set your boundaries and stick to them. in the end $400 to $500 would not be out of line. I live within a quick drive of Amish Country and most of the quilts that I see for sale there are $800 and up.

It is an honor to be asked to make a quilt for the organization but they are also paying for your time and talent. Don't lose your joy over a project that is not for those you choose to gift with a quilt. Difficult decision as you are experiencing.

Homespun

I am making a quilt for my son...a carpenter's star. I already have about $100 in material into it not counting batting.