Janet's Creations

Janet's Creations
Gemma's "I Spy" hexagon quilt

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What it really costs to make a quilt

I have had people ask me to quote them on me making them a quilt.  I have not had any taker when I have told them what I felt it would be.  I have also told some folks  "well, you buy all the materials and then I will charge you $250.00 to make it."  Still no takers.  That is alright with me also.  However, I found this on the quilting board that I belong to and thought I would add it to my blog.  So my family and friends, when I tell you that the quilt I have made for you is worth between
$ 600.00 to $1,000.00 I wasn't being funny :)

QUEEN SIZED, MACHINE PIECED, HAND QUILTED
 
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Spray Basting 1/2 can  $7
Total $ invested $148 - $207

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 $148 - $207
Labor $130 - $810
Total $278 - $1078

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

(Found on the Internet 1995; unknown author)  This was from 1995 not 2012 :)

6 comments:

  1. Thank you Jessica, I have actually pieced your quilt and will be waiting for cooler weather to get on with the quilting of it :)

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  2. YES, pricless is the answer as the LOVE , hope , dreams and sometimes TEARS!

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  3. Thank you for posting this! I'll be using this as a reference (and probably putting it on my blog as well). I've tried to explain to people why a baby quilt really is $175-225 and the prices get exponentially higher as the quilts get bigger since the numbers of blocks jump so rapidly.

    www.munchkinquilts.blogspot.com

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  4. Is that how much I've been spending? ouch! Don't tell the hubby. I will try to link with my blog also. Thanks for doing the analysis.

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  5. This is awesome...so glad I came across it! I am seriously struggling with what to quote and charge customers for the quilts I make. I just had someone see my work online and ask me for a quote to make a quilt for her from across the states, and I am struggling with trying to figure out how to keep it reasonable enough for her, since she would be buying and shipping all the fabric to me, but yet still make a little bit on it too. I am always undercharging, so the end results with me not making any profit at all. I have been searching Google for help with this. I will copy your post to my blog as well. Thank you!

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