Quilting for money
#51
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Enid, OK
Posts: 8,273
Originally Posted by gaevren
I've seen this sentiment expressed before- "When you start quilting for money it stops being fun". Why? There are plenty of ladies who are doing this for money and seem to enjoy it immensely!
What specifically would make it not fun for you anymore?
What specifically would make it not fun for you anymore?
#54
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Portland, OR via Hawaii
Posts: 1,342
Originally Posted by LisaGibbs
Because it becomes more like a job and I feel like a factory producing the same things over and over and then if there is a deadline, person who had a different vision for the product than what it turned out to be. I did this when we lived overseas to help with the fact our $$$ was less valuable than the yen and it became more of a headache than a relaxing hobby.
You want perfect, go by one created in an overseas factory.
#55
Thanks. You know I have watched friends start "quilting for money" and not really paid for their time. One of my BFFs did a oversize throw for a lady for a baby shower. The lady reimbursed her for the fabric and then gave her $20.00 for piecing & time. Nice?
#56
The things about having customers design quilts for you and paying you peanuts for your time doesn't have to be an issue, the way I see it.
First, you should always be charging what your time is worth. Being underpaid and overworked would absolutely lead to hating it in no time flat! There was a thread recently where some lady was doing that for her quilt guild...$40 to LA a queen sized quilt, etc. Yikes! No wonder she quit!
One of the most important things in a business, especially like this, is to decide what your limits are and to only accept business within those limits. You don't HAVE to accept everyone who wants your business! If I'm in the business of making sundresses, there's no way I would take on a client who wanted me to make them an evening or wedding gown and then wanted to design it themselves to boot, especially if they had no knowledge of fabric or design. The same would hold true in quilting, for me at least. Ditto for paying me for my time. I would never allow someone to just reimburse me for materials plus "a little extra for my time", unless it was a one-time deal and I was the one who suggested it.
The people who get mad and huffy about my prices and requirements? I don't want them as customers anyway! Think about it. :)
Now I will agree wholeheartedly that with deadlines and everything else that your time is no longer your own. But the same would be true for ANY sole proprietorship type of business. And not everyone wants to deal with that- and it's a very valid point! ;)
First, you should always be charging what your time is worth. Being underpaid and overworked would absolutely lead to hating it in no time flat! There was a thread recently where some lady was doing that for her quilt guild...$40 to LA a queen sized quilt, etc. Yikes! No wonder she quit!
One of the most important things in a business, especially like this, is to decide what your limits are and to only accept business within those limits. You don't HAVE to accept everyone who wants your business! If I'm in the business of making sundresses, there's no way I would take on a client who wanted me to make them an evening or wedding gown and then wanted to design it themselves to boot, especially if they had no knowledge of fabric or design. The same would hold true in quilting, for me at least. Ditto for paying me for my time. I would never allow someone to just reimburse me for materials plus "a little extra for my time", unless it was a one-time deal and I was the one who suggested it.
The people who get mad and huffy about my prices and requirements? I don't want them as customers anyway! Think about it. :)
Now I will agree wholeheartedly that with deadlines and everything else that your time is no longer your own. But the same would be true for ANY sole proprietorship type of business. And not everyone wants to deal with that- and it's a very valid point! ;)
#57
I do longarm quilting for others, but have started turning some business away because it's gotten to where I don't have time to work on my own projects that I want to do. Too, I set my pricing rather low when starting out so the lower return on my time spent has made me think of increasing the pricing to more competitive prices to make it at least minimum wage work. In the little over a year that I've had my longarm, the quilting that I've done for others has almost halfway paid for it. So that tells you how busy I've been. And I have a full time day job as well. But I plan on curbing the outside work for other more in the coming future so I can work even more on my own things, because that's why I took up this hobby to start with.
#58
Originally Posted by Zhillslady
I just took my first FMQ for hire. I agree it isn't fun. I was excited to see how pretty it's coming out but she wants small curls so each side to side it about 20 minutes and she needs asap so I have to work on whether I'm tired after work or not. Also the stress of not making a mistake is terrible. For friends if I mess up I'll just make you a new one - but I'd never do this for a living. My hats off to those that do. I have one job and need fun not another one.
I get so much pleasure from enhancing the beauty of my customers' quilts that I can't imagine ever wanting to do anything else! The "mistakes" just show that the quilt was quilted by a person, not a machine!
#59
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Winchester, Tn.
Posts: 1,522
I did it for about 10 years and began to hate my long arm machine. I still do one every so often but I have turned several away. I don't mind doing mine but I can take my time with them. I do still love making quilts though.
#60
Originally Posted by jljack
I sold some purses last year (about 15 of them) that I made, and this year one of the ladies asked me to make 2 more. I did, but I am tired of making them, so when she asked for another 2, I told her I am just too busy right now. I do get burned out making the same thing over and over...but the making money part doesn't make it boring for me. It makes it kind of interesting, because I make quilts to fit other people's tastes rather than my own. It opens my horizons to other colors and patterns I wouldn't have picked.
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