There’s a tow truck company that specializes in rescuing disabled heavy-duty vehicles. The vehicles are nicknamed Cost-A-Lotta One and Cost-A-Lotta Two. The obvious meaning behind their names is that it cost a lot of money to rent one.
The phrase “Cost-A-Lota” reminds me of a sign I saw recently on Pinterest. The sign directs its attention to the reason why home-made quilts cost so much.
There is a section on my customer’s invoice that helps them calculate the approximate cost of creating their project. Its meant only as an example and not as an appraisal. Here’s how it looks:
These numbers were calculated for an imaginary quilt measuring 70″ x 70″ = 4,900 square inches
This is only one example and only one opinion. There are many trains of thought in this area. All one has to do is query the topic on the internet and numerous articles will appear.
In essence, what I’m trying to say is don’t sell yourself short! Your time and your talents are worth far more than the readily available, mass produced quilts on the market. Next time someone asks you why home-made quilts cost so much tell them, “because they are worth it!”
Food for thought!
Excellent.
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People really don’t take into account labor…and they want cheap labor that they themselves wouldn’t dream of working for.
Exactly!! 🙂
Yes, I totally agree and enjoyed reading the comments on this post!
Me too! 🙂
I’ve written a lot about this and agree that most people (even many quilters) have no idea how quilts should be valued. There’s no way in hell I’d accept a pay rate of $10 per hour. Like Katie said, above, I’ll give them away before I’ll do that. thanks for throwing this out there. I hope it gives some people more to think about.
https://catbirdquilts.wordpress.com/?s=quilting+as+a+business
Thank you for the link! You seem to be a well seasoned quilter/artist/improv creator that knows a wealth of information. I’m so glad you have shared that information with your audience. I bet they look to you as being a wonderful resource. Agreed, $10/hour is way below an acceptable compensation. 🙂 I hope you didn’t think I was advocating for that.
Oh, no, I didn’t think that. As you showed, it’s a “popular” post from pinterest. I’ve seen things like it before. The notion is totally correct, it’s the number I object to. 🙂
Well that’s good because one never knows how other people will react to what has been said or written. Just wanted to clarify. 🙂
I briefly contemplated making and selling baby quilts, but then I realized that if I charged a fair price for my work, I would never sell a single quilt. Now people just get them for free as gifts! Also, both the Sewing Report and Quilty have great videos on this topic.
Good to know! 🙂
Yes I tried to sell quilts on Etsy and I remember someone contacting me to ask if I could reduce the price on a quilt to basically what it cost for me to buy the fabric! It is better to just give them as gifts to people you care about.
Send them to a big box store. 🙂
Agreed. Same with my paintings. Do quilters get the…i can do that myself comments? Those crack me up. To that I say…please do!
Yup! Oh yes, please do! 🙂
Oh yeah I can paint those paintings in my sleep – ha! I am sure quilters get the same comments. Of course I was guilty of being at a craft fair and thinking “I can make that myself” related to a hand sewn item – oops!
😂🤣 live and learn right?
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Me too! But I never try it! 😂
Great post. $10.00 and hour for all the talented quilters is cheap. I think we all deserve $100/hour.. Not practical, but true.
Totally agree!! 😊
I think about the hours (5)I spent yesterday, putting the blocks for 2 rows together, the time to create various elements, the measuring, the cutting, the pinning, stitching, pressing, along with the design decisions! Whew…I am not giving this quilt away! I’ve seen the first chart a lot floating around. Your chart is interesting because it relates the complexity and gives that additional value. Good post!
Thank you! I wouldn’t give it away either! 🙂