I have heard to price a quilt you double your materials costs. I am still at the gifting phase. But one of our crossing guards has asksed if I would make a blanket for her newly expected grandbaby. i figure i will take a page from my da.

he refinishes old wooden furniture. he keeps a list of materials used and time spent and just hands that over. he asks them to pay what they think it is worth. dangerous. yes. but often he gets surprised when someone values his time and effort so much.

but these are both hobby ventures and really. i enjoy making quilts. keeps me busy and relaxes me (ok not so much the quilting or binding) and this seems a way to not have one million quilts in my house.

around here (southern Ontario Canada) i am very close to large Mennonite and Amish populations. this is where people go to buy hand made quilts.

I think this is a great question and discussion topic. On websites I see bed sized quilts listed for $600-$800 and more. Then other websites list them for $300. Lap quilts are listed for $250 and up. The prices seem high but once you figure in fabric, backing, batting, time, and professional quilting (or the payments on your longarm!) then it barely seems like enough.

You can find many quilts for sale of every size and level of skill on the ETSY website. They are all about selling handmade items and they have a page specific to quilts. Are there other sites like this where a quilter could post their items for sale? (e Bay prices are way too low).

Here is a link that might be useful: etsy - quilt site

In the past year I've done quite well on Etsy - this past April was my best month ever. May was a washout. But I don't worry about it too much.

I have been making quilts on commission for several years and have never had anyone tell me that I was too high. After seeing the quilts at the Folk Art Center outside of Asheville this weekend, I don't think I am charging enough! But, then again, maybe those quilts aren't selling too well?

Basically I looked at what was being sold on the internet and priced my work accordingly. Mostly I make baby and lap quilts for now. They start at $125 for a small scrappy baby quilt and go up to $175 for a larger lap quilt.

IMHO, you can say that you should get XXX dollars for your quilts because of the time and materials in them, but if no one wants to pay XXX dollars then you are not going to sell any quilts. Right?

BTW, I don't bargain or lower my prices just to sell a quilt.

My philosophy is this: I make quilts because I enjoy making quilts. If a do a quilt on commission, it's simply an excuse to quilt. The $$ is just icing on the cake.

Pricing anything hand made is very subjective. I factor in what I spent in materials or outside costs (if it's quilted by someone else for example) and also the time it takes to piece (if it's a harder pattern for example). Then I make a subjective decision on what it's price tag should be.

Generally, I'd guess I under estimate the price tag, but then as Teresa said, if it's priced too high and doesn't sell, it doesn't pay off.

JMHO

I have mostly made quilts for fam and friends and given them as gifts. I have made a few and let the person pay the expense of the materials and I donated my time. The shops in this area want a 30% commission to sell items.
I HQ and I am still learning to MQ, I will no longer give HQ'd items unless I know the person will appreciate it because it takes so long. I was surprised at the outcome of a baby quilt contest in one of this years F&P. The winners were all MQ's and a beautiful (IMO) HQ'd whole cloth baby quilt was simply an honorable mention.
The economy and gas prices have affected my niece's embroidery business quite a bit.
I am not sure if I would want to start a booming business selling my quilted items (it may take the fun out) but it would be nice to sell enough to buy bigger and better toys LOL.
Rosa

I do quilt professionally as well as for myself and I charge time and materials. I charge $20/hour and very complete time sheets. Chargeable time includes trips to the quilt store, designing (If you want something elaborate), pin basting, etc. All receipts are kept and they get photocopies of them so that they know exactly what their materials cost. If I don't use all the fabric or batting purchased they have the option to keep the leftovers for themselves, or I discount the value of the leftovers and they go into my stash. A queen-sized quilt, start to finish, runs anywhere from $600-1000 depending on the pattern and quilting.

If they want something REALLY elaborate, say a lot of applique, difficult piecing, hand quilting or heirloom machine quilting, it goes up from there. I only work on commission. I make quilts for display purposes, but they are mine and usually not for sale.

I don't "dicker" either. It might seem sort of hard-nosed, but any time spent working on someone else's project is time taken away from my own and I'm afraid that I need to paid to make that sacrifice. Oddly enough, I keep raising my rates and don't seem to be losing any clients (mostly machine quilting jobs) so I guess they must appreciate what I do!

Annie

Right on Annie!!! Your method and pricing sound reasonable considering the time it takes and your level of skill. Back in 1984, I sold the Eyes of the Desert wall hanging and the second in that series for $300 each. Today, I would ask more. But I am not in business anymore and don't have to worry about finding clientele, so I don't have to consider the market prices.

What an interesting discussion. My work has exploded in the last couple of years in technical skill & sophistication & folks keep asking if I sell.

Well, I don't know where to sell & haven't been able to get a digital camera (out of work for a while now), w/ which to shoot pix to post online & have an online presence from which to sell.

I DO I hope to check out Etsy soon though.

I received my first commission last year, but haven't done it yet; it would be an art quilt in the form of a Queen size bed quilt. The patron & I have agreed on a price apparently more than double what bed quilts go for (he's a very special friend, we were college sweethearts & an important person in my life. He also wants w/ all his might to push me out into the professional quilt world & this is his way to get me started). He saw this one of a kind QAYG I did & we spoke price & he quadrupled it for Queen size. I'm still too scared abt the size to proceed, even QAYG (I also have some other outstanding issues preventing me from starting it).

But I did my 1st Baby Quilt & now that I lucked out into having it photographed, I do hope to sell it soon!! Pls. see my post entitled "All That 9-4 Talk". I'm a bit embarassed to say what I'd like to charge for it, but I AM an artist & textile designer, it IS one of a kind & I am in NYC.

Annie, that was a wonderfully informative & educational explanation of your pricing which I appreciate very much! How do you keep track of the time tho? I haven't been able to figure that out. TIA

By my experience, I think price is relative to your market potential. Living near a large city allows for better return then living in a rural area. Having had no experience on the internet I can't judge that avenue.
I do believe thar Anne has the correct perspective on how to charge. Cost of material, cost of labor (wage determined by the person doing the labor) and degree of profit expected on the item. I have mostly sold only wall hangings in the quilting area but I have made several smocked heirloom christening dresses that I have used that formular for. Unfortunately the market is limited. Jayne

Pirate girl: I made up a chart to I record my time. There's column for time in, a column for time out, a column for total minutes worked in a session and a column for the running total. At the end, I divide the running total by 60 to get the hours. I'm pretty good at estimating time now (lots of years of practice) so I can usually give an accurate estimate, especially for machine quilting. Start doing this on your own projects and you'll soon learn how much time it takes to make certain patterns and sizes of quilts. For instance, I know that I can machine quilt a mid-size meandering pattern (leaves or feathers) on a queen-sized quilt in 12-15 hours because I've done so many of them now.

I sign out if the phone rings or another interruption occurs and sign back in when I can get back to work. And it's ok to let the answering machine pick up and screen your calls. I don't take time away from work to chat with family and friends who have trouble remembering that working from home is REAL work. 8^)

Annie

I just thought I'd chime in here- I've listed baby quilts on Etsy and ended up selling them locally at a craft fair type-deal. I wanted to comment on that Etsy link posted above, you can click on the word "price" and it will sort all the search results by price. Holy smokes, some of those are EXPENSIVE even by modern art standards. ~jen~

This is an interesting thread. No, I've not been prolific enough to get to the point I have enough quilts for myself (family and friends) to even think about selling them. But that doesn't stop me from looking at what others charge, or consider buying one myself.

I live in an area with high Amish and Mennonite populations. Their quilts automatically bring top of the line prices from tourists who want something 'authentic' and beautiful to take home with them. Selling a quilt made by an Englishwoman in Amish country would be a hard sell. However, when I lived in a small town in Missouri, quiltmaking was a ripping cottage industry in the Ozarks. A pretty day would bring clotheslines laden with quilts out for folks to see as they drove by.

I have inherited a nice newer quilt from my mother (prolly bought in Missouri) and also a very old quilt passed down by my grandmother. The only quilt my husband and I have purchased was one made by the quilters of his church and raffled off. Their work is extraordinary and they used to sell one hundred chances at five dollars each. We got one of the last quilts raffled off by this group, and I'm glad because my DH bought half of the tickets! LOL. Even at $250 I consider it a steal. I would not have flinched to have seen a $500 price tag on it, nor more.

I think the most common mode of buying/selling them in my area are through booths at the Farmer's Market and craft shows, and also they're displayed sometimes in gift shops on consignment, or at some local quilt shows.

Most of my quilts have been made to give as gifts to friends and relatives, but I have made one to order. The materials cost me $100 and I left it to the buyer, a friend, to determine the payment. He loved the quilt and gave me $200, and I accepted it and said nothing, but was disappointed because it was a single bed quilt and had taken many, many, MANY hours to make.

A few weeks later, he said he had been checking out prices on the Internet and realized he had grossly underpaid me for "an artistic quilt like that," or words to that effect. He then offered something around $1100, and--since, to be fair, I had not specified any price--I said I would be well content with $700, so that is what I got for the quilt. Both of us were happy.

Jan, do you have a picture of that quilt that you would be willing to share? Carole

This is an interesting thread. It's nice to have a feel for what one can ask should the opportunity present itself.

For myself, I have sold one quilt, lap size for $250. The buyer gave me the flexibility to design any kind of country/wildlife quilt. I really enjoyed making the quilt- so should I charge for all that enjoyment! I figure I cleared $100.

I would never get into commission quilts as it might take the fun out of quilting. I would like to sell a few lap size just to support the hobby a bit.

I am enjoying everyone's comments.
Jean from small community.

I would have no trouble charging for my skills even if I enjoyed the process; but quilting and hand work are individual passions. The way I see it, what works for you is the right approach to your art. Do you happen to have a pic of this lap quilt? Carole

"I would have no trouble charging for my skills even if I enjoyed the process"

Exactly! To have a profession or vocation one enjoys, is a blessing. There is nothing wrong with being paid to do something one enjoys. I love my work (I grow flowers for a living). I sometimes go to bed anxious to get up and get out to my greenhouses. I've been doing this for twenty years now, not including the time I spent in school studying to prepare for it. I have no illusions about getting rich, but I need to make enough to keep my business afloat.

The same should apply to somebody who makes a quilt and sells it. It's a common mistake for somebody who is entering a business to undercharge for their wares. You sometimes lose more business by charging so little the price defines you as unskilled, and therefore not having a desirable product. Yes, you will lose some customers who search endlessly for a bargain, but one good sale can make up for two or three of those customers.

Calliope said: " It's a common mistake for somebody who is entering a business to undercharge for their wares. You sometimes lose more business by charging so little the price defines you as unskilled, and therefore not having a desirable product. Yes, you will lose some customers who search endlessly for a bargain, but one good sale can make up for two or three of those customers."

AMEN!!!! This is a tremendously difficult thing for many women to learn. We've been told for so many years that what we do isn't a talent, that it's "just sewing" and we have no self-esteem about what we do. Yet, I've spent 20 years perfecting my skills and that's worth something. After all, if it were so easy to do, my clients wouldn't be paying me to do it for them!

Annie

I pulled up the quilt I sold..."Landscape Class Pic". The quilt is 58 x 72. What do you think I should have asked for it.
Jean

My quilt wasn't anything especially artistic, just a Peek-a-boo I-Spy, but our friend ordered it in that pattern and loved the bright colors. I don't suppose I'll ever be paid so well again.

Here it is, when only half done. Because I had to machine-stitch down all those curved flaps, I made it in two halves and then sewed them together where you see the white scallops at the bottom. It was a big quilt, made of 140 circles!
{{!gwi}}

The picture makes it look as if the circles forming the flaps are figured, but actually they are solids.

Jean--Since I price based on hours, plus materials, it's hard to say if you charged enough because I don't know how many hours it took to make the quilt. If you are happy, don't second-guess yourself!

There was an article on the subject in Quilter's Newsletter a couple of months ago. It was about how expensive our UFOs are when we factor in the time spent shopping, designing, gas expense, sewing and cost of materials. She used a Log Cabin lap quilt (1" strips) as an example and estimated it for the time it would take an intermediate quilter to piece. At that skill level, she used a rate of $15/hour and she came up with a cost of $700! I personally can piece a Log Cabin lap quilt faster than that, but even if it's half that--it really brings home to a quilter how much time we put into our projects.

Keeping a time sheet on a project is an interesting exercise for ANY quilter. Include the time spent selecting/shopping for fabrics, prepping them, finding or drawing out the design, piecing, quilting, binding, EVERYTHING. I think you'll be surprised at how much time you actually take to make a quilt. Remember the discussion on Ted Storm-vanWeeldons Best of Show quilt at Paducah this year? It took her over a year at 40 hours a week!

Annie