Grandma Peg

Very interesting.

margecam52

I machine quilt. I have a TL18LS & Qbot (computerized quilter).

I do a lot of freehand quilting.

Shoot, to hand quilt..2 years wouldn't be enough time.

We have a group in the next town over that hand quilt. Sudan, Texas senior citizens. They do a wonderful job too!

margecam52

Now, for photo or t-shirt quilts, it costs a bit more. They are more labor intensive.

the t-shirt quilts, I charge $15.00 per t-shirt (that includes, backing, sashing, batting, quilting & binding)...10 shirts = 150.00 USD... queen size takes 25-30 shirts, without sashing.

I charge $12.00 per 8"x10" photo block (copy paper size). If it's on legal size, it's $15.00 per page. You can cram as many photos on that page as you wish...in a collage format.
I make them for others to use in quilts, or when I make a quilt. They are trimmed to 8" squares for a single Irish Chain quilt. The cost of the rest of the quilt would be extra. 30 photos in a queen size quilt would surely add up!
Usually I put three or 4 in the quilt.

This is the only 2 sided photo/t-shirt quilt I will ever do. It cost the customer about $1,000 USD.

Order started with a t-shirt quilt & 1 photo...next thing I knew, a box of photos arrived, with note to use as many as I could!

I offered to make these two seperate quilts at no extra charge, nope wanted one quilt. So, I ended up having to quilt through the photos (I usually just outline the subjects and the photo itself.

Great-great granny

LOL -Hi from Liberty Hill TX. I ask which, because I have several (in particular a wht on wht) that I know took a LONG time. I had never heard of a 'machine quilter' (except perhaps in commercial quilting). I didn't start quilting till late in life - in my 50's over 20 yrs ago. I have a roll up type frame the width of a quilt & have mentally 'worked out' a lot of things happening in my life sitting at it.

Guess it's a good thing I LOVE hand quilting, as I've never had the $$$$ nor an area BIG enough to support one. I see SO MANY machine done quilts on here. You ladies who machine quilt are quite talented to be able to maneuver one.

I didn't start quilting till late in life - in my 50's over 20 yrs ago. Don't remember seeing but a few at quilt shows & now they are in the majority & the hand quilted have to have a division of their own there are so few. Not sure if that is good or bad???

I just get so much pleasure putting each stitch in a quilt & thinking of the person it will be going to. With 2 kids, 4 grandkids, 9 great grands & 3 great-greats, I won't run out of quilts I need to make. :lol:

Have a blessed evening & may all your quilts be filled w/love.

margecam52

Here is a photo quilt I made for a customer that wanted a quilt done in colors of the period of when her parents married, which she thought ancient times, lol.
Since she had very limited funds, and wanted even the pics on muslin...I gave her options for a smaller quilt with more photos.
Later, all she could get was a torn photo of her parents wedding day photo.
So, liking the lady (girl actually, not long out of high school)...I made this queen size quilt from unbleached muslin (even the pic is on unbleached muslin) & some 40's to 80's prints I had on hand, a few of which I tea dyed, after treating the fabrics with Bubble Jet Set 2000 (to insure the tea dye would be permanent...and it worked!).
The one photo Misty had was missing the bottom left 1/4 of the photo, and had a rip up to the mom's eye. I used three different photo editing softwares to fix the photo, turned it to sepia tone, and printed on the muslin using BJSet2000 to treat the muslin first.
This quilt cost Misty $260.00 three years ago.

margecam52

I did finish a hand quilted top for a church group last year while I was laid up with a broken ankle. I do a lot of hand and machine embroidery also.

Great-great granny

Oh my - that is wonderful - although I totally do not understand all that went into restoring the pic - it is wonderful. :cry:

ging10ging

Some people say oh I can buy it cheaper at the store. While that may be true the workmanship and the quality of fabric and work is no where near the store's. I want to make a King Wedding Ring and the fabric I want is going to cost me a bit. I saw one at a store and the fabric was like a gauze fabric not anywhere near the beautful fabrics we can buy but I also know from all the crocheting I have done and sold people want it for nothing. Most people don't realize the cost of materials and the number of hrs put into these crafts & such. I have also told someone a price for something and I didn't even price it as high as I should have and they say oh I'll let you know. I make mostly everything for gifts or for charity. Sometimes people really need what I have so I would rather give it away to someone who will really appreciate it. Interesting topic. Thanks. Sue

maryb119

I was asked to make 2 tee shirt quilts for a local organization. I said I would charge $100 each for labor for piecing them and binding them. That doesn't sound unreasonable after reading this. Thanks for sharing.

margecam52

I agree. I do mostly for family, friends and charity.
the young girl I did the quilt for was right out of school, and was trying to buy her mom and dad's respect & love. I think I spent more time listening to her heartbreaking life story than I did making the quilt. She's pretty indepentant now...but it was a tough time of life for her.

the Double sided quilt was for a man in Washington State, who's daughter started out at age 3 and worked her way through college playing softball. It was a fun quilt to do, but would have came out better had he let me quilt them as two seperate tops.