What It Really Costs To Make a Quilt!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 1:59PM QUEEN SIZED, Machine Pieced, Hand Quilted
MATERIALS:
Fabric 12-16 yards @ $9per yd. $108 - $144
Batting $25 - $40
Thread $8 - $16
Total $ 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
(Found on the Internet 1995; unknown author)
Reader Comments (7)
LOL, hubby and I were just going over your costs input.
What about time taken to:
Cutting the pieces
machine wear and tear
time involved to HANDSTITCH the binding if applicable
LET ALONE - My skill would go more than $20 an hour. It took me HOW MANY YEARS to get where I'm at now?
Aren't I bad?
This is why we mostly give quilts away. One can give away things too expensive to buy.
Unfortunately, a lot of folks look down "hand made" gifts, and think they are not really gifts. I've made several things for family members, and I have never seen it in their houses. Wonder if they are relegated to the dog or the bottom of the closet.
A good post. I only give my quilts to people who really know the love that goes into making a quilt. And I have to love that person. People will ask me to make things or fix stuff for them, I just say.. no...
Thanks for the information.
if a quilter wants to make money with their art/craft then they are in the wrong business :) People are rarely ever willing to pay what a quilt is worth in actually time spent on making it whether it be by hand or machine. That is why few quilters bother with selling and are content with giving. I sell some but mostly baby quilts that do not take me as long to make - this gives me more money to spend on fabric :) but I know I am not getting what they are really and truly worth - I guess it just depends on how much the total end dollar means to you.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
I so agree with your numbers. I too have struggled with spending hours at a project to donate as a fundraiser only to have it sit there or have the price ``reduced``.
On the other hand, I have just finished making 5 quilts over the past year and a bit, to give to my siblings and my mother for Christmas. And I know they will be sew surprised and pleased, so that makes me happy. And being happy when quilting is simply the best! Happy Stitching
Bev Crouse
Nova Scotia, Canada
I piece and quilt by hand so the computation would be greatly enhanced! We do it because we love it. But people don't have any idea what goes into the creation of a quilt. When I am "told" that one is "wanted" and I give in, that person is deemed by my quilt friends as "not quilt worthy."