TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
05-26-2011, 06:44 PM
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Piedmont Virginia in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
Posts: 8,562
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-62845-1.htm
Jan in VA
Jan in VA
Originally Posted by Pete
A friend sent me this:
TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
QUEEN SIZED, Machine Pieced, Hand Quilted
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Total Money Invested $141 - $200
LABOR HOURS:
Piecing 20 to 60 hours
“Setting” (designing your quilt) 10 to 20 hours
Quilting 100 to 750 hours
Total hours invested 130 to 810 hours
TOTAL COST
Paying $1 per hour (Would you do this type of work for $1 an hour?!)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor $130 - $810
Total $271 - $1070
Paying minimum wage $7.25 (by law in 6/2009)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $942.50 - $5872.25
Total $1083.50 - $6072.25
Paying skilled labor wage $20 per hour (Don’t you consider yourself trained and skilled in this craft?)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $2600 - $16,200
Total $2741 - $16,400
....what about the costs of using your sewing machine? Maintenance, depreciation...oh my..so much else we could all be adding in!
Anyone want to comment with an estimate of how much you spend (not counting your labor) for various sizes of quilts you've made in 2010 or 2011?
TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
QUEEN SIZED, Machine Pieced, Hand Quilted
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Total Money Invested $141 - $200
LABOR HOURS:
Piecing 20 to 60 hours
“Setting” (designing your quilt) 10 to 20 hours
Quilting 100 to 750 hours
Total hours invested 130 to 810 hours
TOTAL COST
Paying $1 per hour (Would you do this type of work for $1 an hour?!)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor $130 - $810
Total $271 - $1070
Paying minimum wage $7.25 (by law in 6/2009)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $942.50 - $5872.25
Total $1083.50 - $6072.25
Paying skilled labor wage $20 per hour (Don’t you consider yourself trained and skilled in this craft?)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $2600 - $16,200
Total $2741 - $16,400
....what about the costs of using your sewing machine? Maintenance, depreciation...oh my..so much else we could all be adding in!
Anyone want to comment with an estimate of how much you spend (not counting your labor) for various sizes of quilts you've made in 2010 or 2011?
05-26-2011, 07:49 PM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: American Canyon, CA
Posts: 1,086
I remember when I first started quilting 25 yrs ago I was working on single Irish chain quilts for my sons. My FIL asked if I would make a quilt for a lady friend of his. He offered to pay $25. I laughed and told him to go to Mervyn's or K-Mart. Many non-quilters have no idea what it really cost to make a quilt, even a lap size.
05-26-2011, 09:35 PM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Brookfield, OH
Posts: 494
Originally Posted by Irene Frohreich
my quilting is for a hobby, and enjoyment not a paying job.
I figure my quilts are priceless.
I figure my quilts are priceless.
:XD:
05-27-2011, 12:00 AM
#26
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA
Posts: 15,562
Having invested a large number of hours in an item does not automatically make that item more valuable, in either monetary or sentimental terms. When we quilt as a hobby, we are choosing to spend our time in a way that will seldom be compensated in the same way as time spent at a paying job. The same is true with time spent cleaning our homes, caring for our children, visiting with friends, etc. The disconnect comes when someone wants to buy a quilt, not understanding that it did not magically make itself. At that point, if you want to sell the already-made quilt, it is pointless to think about how many hours went into it. The question is just whether you would rather have the quilt or the money. If someone asks what you would charge for making a quilt, it's a different question, because you will know throughout the making of the quilt that it is for someone else, and you will be weighing the money against the time and feeling that you didn't charge enough.
05-27-2011, 03:08 AM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Michigan
Posts: 580
I see Jan started this same topic and quote in another thread. Jan says she found this on the internet in 1995 - we can add inflation to these numbers. I just read the other thread. There are some other really good points there also.
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