What is a Quilt Worth?

I have seen a few posts in the last couple of weeks that discuss how much a quilter should charge for  quilts.  Some bloggers are disappointed in quilters who sell their work for just the cost of materials or who only charge a few dollars an hour for their services.  They argue that people who charge very low prices cause buyers to expect low prices for all quilts. These low prices make it very difficult for quilters who want to have a business making quilts to support themselves.  

I  think that it is unrealistic for most people to be able to earn enough to live on by quilting,  just as it is unrealistic for most people to be able to earn  a living wage painting, sculpting or scrap booking.  Art is subjective and time-consuming, not lucrative.

In my opinion, a quilter should be able to charge whatever she chooses for her work, without being judged for it.  While I don't sell my quilts, I think it is perfectly acceptable for any quilter to set her own prices. If I sewed for money,  I might charge a stranger $800 for a quilt I would gladly give to a friend.  A stranger might not be willing to pay $800 for my quilt. Then it would be up to me to decide if I want to sell it for less, and if all I can get is $80, I might decide  to sell it because $80 is better than nothing.  I might then take that $80 and use it to buy fabric to make another quilt.

As a stay-at-home mom, I have more time than money.

 A quilt might have an insurance value of $500, but that doesn't mean someone will pay $500 for it.  I don't have $500 to buy someone else's quilt, but I do have the time and skills to create a similar quilt worth $500.

There are people that I would quilt for for free and not feel like I am being taken advantage of.  There are also people I don't know or like, so the price I would charge them for a quilt would be quite high.  If I were to make a quilt for someone I don't know  well, I think I would have them go to the quilt shop with me to pick out the fabric, thread and other notions for the quilt.  They would pay for the materials up front.  I would charge them to make the top, then I would give them the top to take to the longarmer.  They could pay the longarmer whatever she charges to quilt and bind the quilt. 

To me, that would be a fair way make sure I wasn't being taken advantage of.  And it would also weed out those people who are looking for a special quilt but who want to pay Walmart prices for it.

It would be hard to put a per hour price on something I enjoy doing and would be doing anyway if no one paid me.  I value my quilting, and I know that the people I quilt for value my work too.  I have not fallen into the trap of feeling obligated to make a quilt for every one I know or even every family member.  I expect I will get around to making all my brothers and sisters a quilt, but there are seven of them, and I am not going to rush it.  They all want one of my quilts, but they know that my quilts take  a lot of time and money  to make, and they have to wait.  Each quilt would be less special if I cranked them out like an assembly line.

August Ornament

I did  a quickie ornament for August.  This is a Sue Hillis freebie, Yo Ho Ho Ho.

 

I wouldn't say this is my best stitching.  The weave of the mystery fabric is very tight, and I had a hard time stitching on it even with magnification.   To see more ornaments:  http://stitchinglotus.ca/2013/08/ornament-sal-august-check-in/

 

I have been doing a little stitching on Sleepy Hollow, but I haven't met my goal of 2 hours a week.  Still, I can see progress.  The trees are done.

 

 

 

 

Lazy Sunday Ready For Borders

Despite the beautiful weather yesterday, I managed to get the center of Lazy Sunday sewn together.

 

My color choices were dictated by my scraps, and there are some real uglies in this quilt.  But I like it more than I thought I was going to.  This is the kind of quilt you want to keep looking at because there is so much going on in each block.  I had a lot of ugly browns to use up, but you don't even really see them because of all the other colors.

My next task is to determine if the center border called for in the pattern is the right size for my quilt.  That involves a lot of measuring that I don't feel up to at the moment.

To see more design walls:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/08/26/design-wall-monday-26/

Stash Report

This is just a drive by post to show I'm heading in the right direction, thanks to my finish last week.

 Used this week: 5 yards
Used Year to Date:  60.375 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date:  67.875 yards
Net Added: 7.5 yards 

I was hoping to have big progress to show on Lazy Sunday, but I got sidetracked because of the beautiful weather.  When it is only 82 degrees out in August, I want to be outside!

I'm linking up with http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/08/25/stash-report-week-34-2013/

Dwood's Quilt Done

I got my BIL's quilt back from the longarmer and bound it this week.  I think he is going to really like the 3D space fabric.  It has just enough 'nerd' factor to keep the computer engineer in him happy.

 

 

 

This is a Swirly Girls Design called 'Inner Piece', found in Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine (vol.19 no 4). 'Inner Piece' reminds me of their 'Grand Central' pattern, only Inner Piece uses nine patches, and Grand Central uses pinwheels. This is my 4th Swirly Girl quilt. Their patterns are very easy to follow, and simple enough that they don't take forever to get done. They are also good for novelty or big prints.

My favorite part is the quilting.  I think the longarmer selected the perfect pantograph for it.

 

The back of this quilt is pin wale corduroy. It feels like velvet. My BIL's b'day is next month.  I can't wait to see his reaction.  Now I have to find the 3D glasses that came with the fabric.

 

I'm linking up with Sarah http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2013/08/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-lots-of-baby.html  and Amanda Jean

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2013/08/twister-quilt.html

Pieces and Parts of Lazy Sunday

I'm late to the Monday design wall post because I've spent the past 3 days helping a friend look for a new house. It was fun and exhausting!  Both of my big kids left for college this weekend too.  I will miss them, but I 'm looking forward to less grocery shopping and quieter nights here.

Last week I worked on Lazy Sunday's borders and sashing.  The blocks are done.  Just have to sew it all together. 

 

 

Here are the borders and sashing:

 

 

To see more design walls:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/08/19/design-wall-monday-25/

 

Last Friday I got my BIL's quilt back from the longarmer.  I hope to get the binding done this week. I usually bind by machine, but I'm doing this one by hand because the front, the back and the binding are all different colors.  I think it will look better if I bind this one by hand.    I also dropped off another quilt at the longarmer while I was there. 

Crazy Sunday Stash Report

Thanks to Goose In the Puddle, I'm down 4 yards this week. http://sewingoutofmycomfortzone.blogspot.com/2013/08/goose-in-puddle-top-complete.html

 Today I'm working on Lazy Sunday, but mine looks more like Crazy Sunday.  I  used  only scraps for this quilt.

 

There are just 2 blocks, but it is a complicated layout, and I need to get enough sewn together so that it doesn't get all mixed up when I move it off the floor tonight.  It is too big to put on my design wall.

Used this week: 4.0 yards
Used Year to Date:  55.375 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Added year to date:  67.875 yards
Net Added: 12.5 yards

To see more stash reports: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/08/11/stash-report-week-32-2013/