TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
#63
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Some where in way out West Texas
Posts: 3,041
Originally Posted by bamamama
My niece sent me an email the other day saying she wanted me to make quilts for all 3 of her kids with their names on them and had very specific instuctions on what she wanted. I had made them baby quilts when they were born. I replied that the material would be around $75 or more for each quilt and if she bought the material I would show her how to piece the quilts on my next visit (this summer) then I would quilt them for her on my Long Arm. I still have not had a reply from her!
#64
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
Originally Posted by jmaurath
But, don't we feel good about providing something from our heart for our family? I realize there is a great sacrifice for our talents but the rewards are everlasting
#66
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Some where in way out West Texas
Posts: 3,041
I think I will enlarge this and hang it with our quilts at the Fall Fair in Oct. Just to give everyone who comes in to view them and idea of what they cost and why one can't make one overnight.
I did speak with a young man who said he had always wanted a quilt and had looked at some in stores but he didn't like them, and knew that they were just assembly line produced so to speak. He ask me if I made quilts for the public, and when i told him no, that people really wouldn't want to pay what they were worth. I told him the story about a lady at work asking what I would charge for a DWR like the one I made for my daughter several years ago. When I informed her that I wouldn't do another like it for less than $1,500.00, this young man informed me that he would be willing to pay that or even $2,500 for a "handmade" quilt he called it, because he knew it would be quality made and definitely worth the price. I almost fell over with his remark, most people would have laughed and said "no way would I ever pay that kind of money for a quilt". He ask me to think about making him one, which I may do later on, but not right now, too busy trying to get my quilts going for Christmas.
I did speak with a young man who said he had always wanted a quilt and had looked at some in stores but he didn't like them, and knew that they were just assembly line produced so to speak. He ask me if I made quilts for the public, and when i told him no, that people really wouldn't want to pay what they were worth. I told him the story about a lady at work asking what I would charge for a DWR like the one I made for my daughter several years ago. When I informed her that I wouldn't do another like it for less than $1,500.00, this young man informed me that he would be willing to pay that or even $2,500 for a "handmade" quilt he called it, because he knew it would be quality made and definitely worth the price. I almost fell over with his remark, most people would have laughed and said "no way would I ever pay that kind of money for a quilt". He ask me to think about making him one, which I may do later on, but not right now, too busy trying to get my quilts going for Christmas.
#67
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Paige, Texas
Posts: 1,062
Originally Posted by Pete
A friend sent me this:
TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
QUEEN SIZED, Machine Pieced, Hand Quilted
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Total Money Invested $141 - $200
LABOR HOURS:
Piecing 20 to 60 hours
“Setting” (designing your quilt) 10 to 20 hours
Quilting 100 to 750 hours
Total hours invested 130 to 810 hours
TOTAL COST
Paying $1 per hour (Would you do this type of work for $1 an hour?!)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor $130 - $810
Total $271 - $1070
Paying minimum wage $7.25 (by law in 6/2009)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $942.50 - $5872.25
Total $1083.50 - $6072.25
Paying skilled labor wage $20 per hour (Don’t you consider yourself trained and skilled in this craft?)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $2600 - $16,200
Total $2741 - $16,400
....what about the costs of using your sewing machine? Maintenance, depreciation...oh my..so much else we could all be adding in!
Anyone want to comment with an estimate of how much you spend (not counting your labor) for various sizes of quilts you've made in 2010 or 2011?
TRUE COST OF MAKING A QUILT
QUEEN SIZED, Machine Pieced, Hand Quilted
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Total Money Invested $141 - $200
LABOR HOURS:
Piecing 20 to 60 hours
“Setting” (designing your quilt) 10 to 20 hours
Quilting 100 to 750 hours
Total hours invested 130 to 810 hours
TOTAL COST
Paying $1 per hour (Would you do this type of work for $1 an hour?!)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor $130 - $810
Total $271 - $1070
Paying minimum wage $7.25 (by law in 6/2009)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $942.50 - $5872.25
Total $1083.50 - $6072.25
Paying skilled labor wage $20 per hour (Don’t you consider yourself trained and skilled in this craft?)
Materials $141 - $200
Labor (130-810hrs) $2600 - $16,200
Total $2741 - $16,400
....what about the costs of using your sewing machine? Maintenance, depreciation...oh my..so much else we could all be adding in!
Anyone want to comment with an estimate of how much you spend (not counting your labor) for various sizes of quilts you've made in 2010 or 2011?
#68
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Ocean Springs, MS
Posts: 9,287
I know it is expensive to make a quilt. I will make them for family members if they pay for the fabric. Sewing, crochet, plastic canvas items, doilys, cross stitch is a hobby, but now a days it has become expensive. I just stick with the crafts, which, is less expensive, easy and quick. Thanks for sharing.
#69
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 256
I started out as a scrap booker. I never really paid attention to what each page cost until we had water damage and I was faced with replacement costs. When I started to calculate out the cost of the actual pg, the paper used, the cost of developing pictures,( and the cost of the film, if used) the embellishments, the ALBUM, the pg protectors..... It came to about $500 per album. AND that did NOT include the time to complete the Pages.
I'm very selective in who I give home made gifts to. If I don t think they will appreciate the time involved.... They aren't getting one!
I'm very selective in who I give home made gifts to. If I don t think they will appreciate the time involved.... They aren't getting one!
#70
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Piedmont Virginia in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
Posts: 8,562
Originally Posted by margecam52
Queen quilt:
Materials:
Fabric 12 yds at 10 a yard, 120.00
Batting 14.00
Thread 6.00 *includes thread to quilt it with.
total materials 140.00
Time to quilt, 12 hours @ 20.00 = $240.00
So, about $380.00 to make you a queen size quilt.
No way it would take 70 hours to quilt. I make quilts using my Qbot & freehand custom... A simple panto or stars n loops would take about 4 hours...6 hours tops.
I don't count the time staring at the top, figuring out what I want to put on it.
Marge
Materials:
Fabric 12 yds at 10 a yard, 120.00
Batting 14.00
Thread 6.00 *includes thread to quilt it with.
total materials 140.00
Time to quilt, 12 hours @ 20.00 = $240.00
So, about $380.00 to make you a queen size quilt.
No way it would take 70 hours to quilt. I make quilts using my Qbot & freehand custom... A simple panto or stars n loops would take about 4 hours...6 hours tops.
I don't count the time staring at the top, figuring out what I want to put on it.
Marge
Jan in VA
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