Making Quilts for Money
I have heard and experienced SO MANY people who try to sell their quilts and complain that people won’t pay what the quilt is worth. Especially since you can go to a big box store and pick up a foreign-made quilt for $30!
Let’s think about that dilemma for a minute……
My foster mother is currently working on a baby quilt. She has pieced the quilt by machine and has created her quilt sandwich and will be hand-quilting it when she has time. She put in about four hours putting the quilt together – at the national minimum wage rate of $7.25, she would have earned $29 thus far. The cost of the fabric and batting for such quilt was be about $40. Once she finishes hand-quilting it, she would have put in about 20 hours of work, so there’s $145.00 more. The total “true” cost of a 40″ x 40″ baby quilt is $214.00.
Now, if she were to have the quilt completed with a long-arm, the cost would be about $16 if she were paying the basic rate of $.01 per square inch. That lowers the price of the quilt to $85.00. Again, not many people would pay that for a baby quilt. One of the basic patterns she is working with is the one shown below (border optional). This one was pieced by machine and my long-arm quilter did a fabulous job of quilting it.
Can you imagine anyone paying that amount for a baby quilt??? I’ve never seen it, at least from a novice’s standpoint. Perhaps the more well-known and competitive/winning quilters can get that price but a beginner certainly cannot!
So, a quilter sells the quilt for what she can get out of it. My guesstimate is that my foster mother will only be able to get $50 (on a good day) for that particular quilt. If she doesn’t, her plan is to donate it or give it to someone who is expecting.
What’s the secret for selling a quilt for the amount of time a quilter puts into a quilt? Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Quilting is a “labor of love”. If one goes into it as a for profit business, I doubt he/she will be successful.
I look at it this way: I love quilting. I consider it my hobby. I do long-arm quilting as a “business”. When I sell a quilt and recover the actual money I have in it, that is a good day. Who else has a hobby they love that, in the end, does not cost them anything?
Embrace the joy of the process.
I love making baby quilts – but have decided it is more fun when doing it out of love, rather than trying to make one to sell.
I recently made a toddler bed sized baby quilt at the request of a cousin. She wanted to keep it under $100, but also wanted Minkee on the back plus chose a pattern with lots of small pieces. It turned out cute but cost $110 just in fabric, supplies, and quilting costs. No minimum wage involved even.
And a friend just asked me to make a baby quilt for her son and his wife. But when I said it would cost between $75-$100, she decided it was too expensive and declined. She said my quilts were beautiful but she had no idea it cost so much.
So – much more enjoyable to just make the quilt and give it away with love.
I would much rather make quilts for charity or to give away because it is so hard to get what they are worth. I have just finished 3 small lapquilts made from T shirts and polo shirts. I know I have about $95 just in materials involved without counting my time designing, cutting, sewing, machine quilting, and binding. I’m hoping I can get at least $50 each plus the cost of materials.
It is so much easier to just give them away and I feel better about it too.