What would you pay for a quilt?

When asking for guidance on how to price my baskets, another crafter on this site (sorry, forget who) said the standard is to triple your cost.

I have to say that perhaps craft buyers from other places are more generous than around here but at triple my cost I can guarantee I would never sell a basket! Although I think that advice seems to be exactly what many crafters attempt to do, so it was sound advice.

But for a quilt? The king size quilt I made a few years back, was asked to make as a gift, came in at a hair under $500. That was the cost. That was zero for my months of time/work. I don't know who can pay $1500 for a quilt? I sure couldn't! I wouldn't! I would not even feel right charging someone that much.

But I do like making quilts and am kicking around the idea of taking on commissioned quilts, but I have no idea what the market would bear.

I figure fabric and taking a quilt to a long arm quilter, to have the quilting done, runs between $300 and $400 dollars for a queen size. That is paying myself ZERO for several months of work. Do you think tacking on $200 for labour would be too much? I think it is. Yet, when it coes down to an hourly wage, $200 comes in at a wage that no one else would work for. Not to mention the driving around I do delivering and picking the quilt up from the long arm.

(if I were to quilt one by hand, forget it, not going to happen. Will add a year to the time it takes to make a quilt)

Is this a pointless question because therea re just too few people willing to spend $600 on a quilt? And I can't blame them! But when you consider that over half of that is the cost of amaterials and the wage is merely a token gesture... Maybe this is stupid to even think about. Wisdom?

Being a quilter myself, if I were looking to buy a quilt that was hand-made by someone else, I would be willing to pay $$$$ for a quilt I loved - because I know exactly how much work goes into quilting, and I believe that artists should be paid for their time. Hey, I certainly don't shoot portraits or weddings for free!

I can't say the same for the general non-quilting public, though.

At craft shows around here, baby quilts start at anywhere from $20 (too cheap!!!) to $100ish. On etsy, higher than that.

Bigger quilts, I am not sure ... there tend to be a LOT of baby quilts for sale, so that's what I notice.

Your quilts are priceless, Uno.

I have told to triple the cost of materails but most people do not want to pay the price for your time. Do not under sell your time. Do not take under minium wage. My question to most people is that are slaves not been outlawed. So charge what you need to make a dollar. I do not do for anyone but family anymore because they are the only ones that know the work that goes into any peice. But only my thoughts.

Brahmachick, I tend to agree with you. As you know, as does any other quilter, charging $200 to make a queen size quilt (that's just my time, not the whole cost) is far, far less than minimum wage.

I am dumbfounded at the people who will complain about the cost, when they themselves would never work for so little. For that reason, Brahmachick, the quilts I make are gifts of the heart. Like you do. Very, very, expensive gifts both in cost and months of work.

I cannot believe that anyone can sell a baby quilt for $20. I am working on a largish baby quilt right now. The materials alone have come to $110. And I still have to spend time hand quilting it! If you are selling a quilt for $20, perhaps you live in the US where cotton goods can be had for much less than here in Canada. OR you buy that quilt for $3 at Value Village and resell it. I have seen handmade baby quilts, beautiful works, at the Value Village and I am sickened that anyone would do that to a handmade gift like that. I buy them and bring them home. What on earth am I doing rescuing orphaned baby quilts!? When I have someone who has a baby, I send them a NEW quilt that I have made plus a rescued orphan quilt. You can never have too many baby quilts!

No clue what to do about pricing. People will pay amazing things for some things but hardly anything for other stuff!
I loved the way you put it Uno about "rescuing orphaned baby quilts" I could just see you doing that.
The nice thing is if you sell some quilts is now you have an excuse to make more, there has to be a way to hide the results of this addiction...

My dear departed mother used to make quilts and she spent countless hours sewing these tiny pieces of cloth that she had bought ......just to make one small section ,then multiply this by what ever the quilt size was and then that was just the front ! I can't think of any price that would even come close to being enough for a Home Made Quilt .The hours spent making it ,the care taken into the patterns to insure that it all flows ? I would venture that it would have to be someone who wants a quilt made for what ever reason who would actually pay ....if anything the nearest to what it might be in a dollar value ......then add in the love / care and it becomes priceless .......but I'd pay a lot to have my mom make me one more ,the few that I have are treasured as they are by most people who had the pleasure to have someone make them one ......It seems to be a labour of love for most ? and how can you put a price on something like that ??

Prairie Dog, all any quilter can ask for is that a quilt she made be so loved, so treasured, that it is worn to a thread bare shadow. That you hold your mom's quilts in such esteem is a beautiful tribute to her. I loved reading that! So much better than those quilts be loved and used at your home until they aren't holding together anymore, then they be cast off to the Value Village or thrift store. When I see the hand knit Siwash sweaters, the lovingly hand embroidered pillowcases, the hand crocheted doilies and table cloths...I weep. I reach out and touch them all and imagine who made them, and for whom they were destined, and who loved them so little that they ended in the Value Village..

Sigh...now I'm sad.

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I think I would pay a lot for a hand made quilt Uno, especially of it were a situation where I was commissioning someone to make it so the size, choice of colors and design were something I had a say in. Although i think most skills (crafts or whatever you want to call it) can be learned by most people not everyone has the time or dedication to make a beautiful piece llike a full sized quilt. Thanks to my grandmother I know the basics of knitting, embroidery, sewing, paper tole and a few other things but I don't make time for them. But I do know the time they take.

Making them for family, friend makes the most sense as then its not hard to justify covering costs and considering the hours of your time mostly a gift. But for people who aren't of that category, why would you not try charging a price that better reflects your time? Just because you like doing it doesn't mean you can't charge for it!! Triple, or at the very least double, the cost of materials makes sense to me.

Out of curiosity, what type of batting do you use?

prairie dog wrote:My dear departed mother used to make quilts and she spent countless hours sewing these tiny pieces of cloth that she had bought ......just to make one small section ,then multiply this by what ever the quilt size was and then that was just the front ! I can't think of any price that would even come close to being enough for a Home Made Quilt .The hours spent making it ,the care taken into the patterns to insure that it all flows ? I would venture that it would have to be someone who wants a quilt made for what ever reason who would actually pay ....if anything the nearest to what it might be in a dollar value ......then add in the love / care and it becomes priceless .......but I'd pay a lot to have my mom make me one more ,the few that I have are treasured as they are by most people who had the pleasure to have someone make them one ......It seems to be a labour of love for most ? and how can you put a price on something like that ??

As I said. Priceless.

You can't put a value on the work you do, so if you plan on selling you just have to come up with a price you are comfortable receiving to part with that quilt and be at peace if the buyer says no.

I thought tripling the cost was to cover your time, am I wrong in this thinking? I guess a person has to think of what they would pay, however if your frugal (that's me ) then you will sell yourself short.
Material isn't cheap, I just made my sister a rag throw for her 40th and I paid over $100 for material. Although I do have some left to put towards another one. It also helps to shop for material on sale, fabricland has a 50% off everything this weekend...I stocked up on flannel and thread

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There was someone here on kijiji asking $200 for both king and queen. I asked how they can sell so cheap. They collect material when on sale

I would definitely pay well for a handmade quality quilt. Though it doesn't make sense in labour intensive creations, a general rule of thumb for any field that requires talent, $50/hour for your time is standard.

R. Roo wrote:when there are no more shiny I-pods left to buy, when there are only cold cold dark nights, when a warm friend is worth more than a litre of gas, Then we will remember that crazy quilt lady that only wanted $1500 for a nice warm quilt, we may not remember when we pass the venison and home made hooch around the blazing fire, but we will remember.

You crack me up! So true!