SueSew

Amen!
If I could add to that excellent advice, I have pointed out to one eager (and much loved) in-law that a quilt from me is a gift, not a commission. I give what I can give, but I don't quilt to order.

bearisgray

On the other hand - to quote my Mom again - "Nothing breeds success like success!"

I think it is important to have some things turn out well. Then, when something goes badly, one has some positive experience to fall back on.

More advice:

One does not need to have top of the line EVERYTHING to make a decent quilt.

On the other hand, buying cheap (poor quality) tools is a waste of money.

mckwilter

Shelley, the parts in italics are my internal musings, not something I would ever say to a friend, but I thought they needed to be inserted so everyone would know the reasoning behind my "rules". You don't say where "here" is, but fabric is getting more expensive every time I take a trip to the LQS, which is why I am more and more buying sale fabrics from on-line vendors.

Several people have asked IF I will make a quilt, and when I tell them "No.", they want to know why. So I tell them, "Quilting is my method of having fun and relaxing; if I quilted for money, it would become a job, and would no longer be fun and relaxing."

cpcarolyn

I just say no. That quilting is my hobby not my job. No other explaintion is nessary.

MargeD

I think you are spot on about making quilts for other people, and being upfront with the true cost of making a quilt. They need to know it's a quality quilt, quality fabrics and they shouldn't expect that you would not charge for your time.

klswift

what you are saying is very truthful. People asking need to be educated in what it took you to make it. If they agree, then you can always decide to reduce some of the costs because you're nice, because you can, because you want to - key is it is your decision. The same principle applies to anything we 'create'. I have a similar situation with decorated cakes. A person will pay $50 or more at a bakery but balk at my suggestion of $30. You learn real fast.

cashs_mom

That's my thought exactly! I have people tell me all the time that I should do sewing for other people. No way! I want to sew what I want, when I want and not have to make other people happy. When you turn your hobby into work, then its work and not as much fun anymore.

bearisgray

Practice pieces/blocks are frequently a good idea. It's also okay to trash them if they didn't turn out as expected. I would rather discard one block than a whole top,

After all, how many of us still have our fourth grade homework around? Or walked perfectly the first time we tried?
I still have things that turn out "not as expected" - I didn't quite understand the directions the first time through - or the directions were wrong!

I've had plenty of "growth opportunities" - doesn't mean I'm always cheerful about them, though!

Or everything you cooked was wonderful?

AllyStitches

This is exactly what I used to do. I kept a time card, and at the end, there wasn't much to argue with.

ShelleyCS

Mckwilter, I think your points are completely realistic and valid - and I know it is what we think but wouldn't necessarily say exactly. I simply changed it in a way that I think reflects a reasonable position for doing unsolicited quilts. Your points made sense to me.

on a slightly different note, I would tell newbies that when you buy batting and use only bits of it, label the rest. I've just completed most of a quilt, but I cannot recall for the life of me what the batting is exactly (having used some of the batting for another project). Some of the quilting is about 4" apart. Is that too wide? Dang. I have no idea. So label your leftover batting!