Is Custom Quilting Dead??

Over the last few months I have heard the following comment (or something similar) several times from people in different parts of the country – “I’m not doing custom quilting anymore. I can’t make enough $$$ with custom quilting.”

Personally, I think they are WRONG! You CAN make $$ (many times a LOT of $$$) custom quilting, but you need to be SMART about it, you need to be EFFICIENT with your quilting, and you need to price accordingly.

Let’s first define “custom quilting.” A while back, I asked the question “how would you define the term custom quilting?” Everyone who responded said the same thing – anything more than edge to edge quilting, is custom quilting. (To read this post and the comments Click Here)

Let’s also define “edge to edge” quilting. Edge to edge quilting can be done with a (paper) pantograph, Groovy Boards, computerized or free hand. Edge to edge is quilting that is done from one (raw) edge of the quilt to the other (raw) edge of the quilt. And the pattern or design also goes from the top (raw) edge of the quilt to the bottom (raw) edge of the quilt. When the quilting is completed, there is typically only one distinct pattern or design on the quilt, resulting in all over “texture” of the quilting.

With many of the newer, more detailed and dense pantograph designs, especially some of the computerized designs, I personally feel, even though they are edge to edge designs, they really ARE custom quilting!

Personally, any quilting that is considered “custom” SHOULD cost more! And sometimes a LOT more!

Let’s talk about the quilting in custom quilting. I know everyone has seen the super duper, over the top, show stopping, drooling inducing, quilting. Maybe you have seen the photos online, in person or maybe you quilt like that in real life. Yes, these quilts are AH-MAZE-ING and prize worthy and, IMHO, should be charged big, big, bucks – like, there should be a comma in the price charged – for the time, talent, vision, imagination, and the effort involved in the quilting.

But what if you are working on something not so spectacular? You CAN do custom quilting and make some big, or at least decent, $$$ for YOUR time, talent and effort.

I just completed a “too stinkin’ cute” customer quilt with custom quilting that I completed in a fairly short amount of time and made some more than decent $$$ on it.

First, I want to talk about the quilt, then I’ll talk about the pricing.

The quilt is Gnome quilt that my customer made with Hawaiian fabrics for an island “vibe.” The quilt is going to be a gifted to a nephew and his family who live in Hawaii, and it is going to be hand delivered to them when a friend of my customer visits Hawaii on vacation in a few weeks.

The quilt pattern is A Tale of Two Gnomes, by Cotton Street Commons. My customer changed the pine trees from the pattern to coconut trees for the island vibe. Click on any photo for a larger view.

The quilt is 59 x 70 inches and the blocks are a combination of hand applique and piecing. At first I was thinking of doing a free hand all over design, but the applique on the trees was really thick and I couldn’t get my hopping foot or my needle through the thickness of the overlapping applique pieces.

I kept the “custom” quilting really simple and changed threads to match the fabric. I used high sheen polyester thread throughout the whole quilt and Warm & White batting.

I started with the blue borders – I went with a wavy line with blue variegated thread to mimic the motion of water. Because the blocks were all different sizes, where they all came together, I overlapped the horizontal and vertical wavy lines for a “fish net” look. The wavy lines overlapped somewhat randomly, meaning I didn’t plan or stress where the wavy lines overlapped in the quilt.

When all the blue was quilted in my workspace, I switched to white thread and did the background quilting of each block in the workspace. The white quilting in each block was done with only one start / stop and it was easy, peasy quilting – a combination of curved “spikes” in the beard and ribbon stipple in the background for the Gnomes and some curved spikes in the bottom half of the tree block and some loose outline and ribbon stipple around the top of the tree. It took me (literally) about 2 minutes to quilt the background in each block.

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  Gnome block quilting detail

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  Tree block quilting detail

When the white quilting was finished in the first workspace, I changed back to the blue thread and quilted the Gnome hats then moved my quilt to the next workspace and began quilting the blue block borders and then the block background with the white thread. I continued “leap frogging” the thread colors in each workspace for the remainder of the quilting. I find that, for me, this is the most efficient way to quilt a quilt like this.

The whole quilt took me only three (3) hours to quilt which included putting the quilt on the machine. And, IMHO, the quilting looks good and it looks like I worked REALLY hard on it.

I have sent some photos of the quilting in progress to my customer and she LOVES the quilting!

This was a last-minute quilt that my customer made and asked if I could quilt it in only a few days. Fortunately for her, I had the time and I was able to do this for her. Because this was a rush job, AND a custom quilting job, I did charge more $$$ for my time and effort. Let’s talk numbers – the quilt was 59 x 70 inches which equals 4,130 square inches (si) and it took me 3 hours to complete.

4,130 si X .02 cents si = $82.60, divided by 3 hours equals $27.53 per hour
4,130 si X .03 cents si = $123.90, divided by 3 hours equals $41.30 per hour
4,130 si X .04 cents si = $165.20, divided by 3 hours equals $55.06 per hour
4,130 si X .05 cents si = $206.50, divided by 3 hours equals $68.83 per hour

I charged my customer the .05 cents si price, which she agreed to and signed and dated the worksheet!

Of course, if it took me longer to finish the quilt, the numbers would be different and I am not allowing for operating expenses, etc.

In addition, I provide the batting (Warm & White, twin size $22), thread (high sheen polyester, $10) and I put the binding on the front of the quilt ($53.75) and she will hand stitch the binding to the back. This gives a total of $292.25 for this quilt before state sales tax was added.

Custom quilting, IMHO, CAN BE PROFITABLE and by keeping the quitting simple, custom quilting can be done in a relatively / fairly short period of time which can make YOU more $$$.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Please post your comments below or send them to me in an email at longarmu@aol.com

Becoming an Efficient Quilter

Over my many years of being a professional quilter, I have found that to be more profitable, I needed to become more efficient.

Note that I am saying “efficient” not fast!

Many people assume that the only way you can make more profit is to become a faster quilter. They strive to run their quilting machine at a higher rate of speed, quilt less complex or dense patterns and do as many things as possible to “speed things up!”

What I have found is that when “speed” or “fast” is used, it usually leads to less accuracy, less choice for the customer (which could bring more boredom to the quilter) and sometimes “sloppy” stitching.

Instead of being a fast quilter, strive to be an efficient quilter!

Efficiency comes in many ways! And many times, it is the little things that make a huge difference in the time it takes to finish a quilt!

Here are some things that I have found to be extremely efficient in my quilting –

I pin my quilts to my leaders. I have found that a finger pin cushion is more efficient for holding my pins than any other pin holder. I can quickly get a pin from my finger instead of reaching across the bars of my machine to a “regular” pin cushion or pin holder.

For instructions on how to make a finger pin cushion Click Here

When doing free hand quilting, can I figure out a way to quilt the area – block, border, across the quilt top as a free hand pantograph – in such a way as to eliminate starts and stops? Or, can I sequence my quilting so that I can move from space to space without a start / stop.

Let’s assume that it takes two minutes to stop the machine, raise the needle, secure the thread, cut the thread, move the machine to a new space, bring up the bobbin thread, secure the thread, and then, finally, start quilting. If you had 10 start/ stops in a block, border, or across the quilt top, that would mean that up to 20 minutes of your life is spent doing all of this!

If you can figure out a way to eliminate some, or maybe all, of the starts /stops (except for the original start / stop) you could be done with your quilting in that much less time.

Remember, the less time you take to quilt a quilt, the more $$$ you will make!!

I have a FREE class that shows how I can quilt a significant amount in a workspace with only two starts and stops!

To view the information about this class Click Here

Here is another example – when I started machine quilting, I was taught that to quilt a feathered wreath, no matter what size, I had at least 3 starts / stops and possibly more depending on the fill in stitching I was doing. I soon found out that I could quilt ALL the feathered wreath, including fill in stitching with only ONE start / stop! It is amazing how much time that saved and my feathered wreaths look great.

For a FREE video on how I quilt feathered wreaths with one start / stop Click Here

And yes, there are times when I try as hard as I can, but I WILL have to make many starts /stops to get the design quilted. But I know that the extra time will be added into the fee I am charging my customer.

There is no way around it, putting the quilt on the quilting machine does take time! But the way you put the quilt top on the quilting machine can make the time you take to quilt the quilt more efficient.

Let me explain – Many quilters “float” their quilt tops. Floating a quilt top means that after the backing is secured to the appropriate rollers and the batting is laid out on top of the backing, then the quilt top is placed and smoothed on top of the batting. Most people will then stitch across the top raw edge of the quilt top, smooth the quilt out again and begin quilting. The extra quilt top is “floating free” and usually laying on the floor in a puddle of fabric.

This works OK until it is time to roll the quilt up so the next workspace is exposed. Then the quilter needs to smooth, measure, adjust, sometimes pin or secure the “loose” edge of the quilt so that it remains in place and the extra quilt is still in a puddle on the floor! All of this takes time!!! And it can be avoided.

How can all of this be avoided? By NOT floating your quilt top!!!

I have made a free video on why I DO NOT float my quilt top and how I attach my quilt to my machine.

To view the video Floating a Quilt – NO WAY!!  Click Here

Let’s do some quilter’s math –

Your quilt is 90 inches wide x 100 inches long and you are quilting a 10 inch pattern – pantograph, free hand, computerized, hand guided, it really doesn’t matter for this calculation.

That means that after your first workspace, you will have at least 9 more “roll ups” to get the un-quilted quilt into your workspace.

Let’s assume that you float your quilt top and it takes you 5 minutes to get your quilt ready for quilting. You have to smooth, measure, re-smooth, tug, maybe pin the layers together to get good tension on the quilt top, etc., etc.

Yes, I have watched quilters do all this, and more, to get their workspace ready for quilting!

That means that 45 minutes of the quilter’s life is dedicated to getting the quilt top ready for quilting!

Let’s now assume that you don’t float your quilt top. Yes, you will need a few minutes to pin / secure the bottom edge of your quilt top to the leader / roller, but, when you go to roll up the quilt into the next workspace, it may take you only 2 minutes, possibly less, to get the quilt in the workspace ready for quilting!

This quilter will spend only 18 minutes of their life getting the quilt top ready for quilting!

I speak only for myself – I’d rather be quilting than fussing with getting a quilt top ready for quilting!

Here is some other things to think about when you float your quilt. You may experience –

• the quilt not being “square” after quilting – even if the quilt is “square” when it is put on the machine
• wavy borders and a wonky bottom edge of the quilt
• tension issues with the fabric(s) on the quilt top
• side edges that may be wonky
• and a few more, sometimes subtle, issues with the finished quilting!

One last thing, when I am at quilt shows, many times I can pick out the quilts that were floated. The floated quilts seem to hang a little wonky and sometimes there can be a noticeable difference in the size of the quilt along the top edge and along the bottom edges of the quilt.

Please, take some time to watch my video and let me know your thoughts.

To view the Floating a Quilt Top – NO WAY!! video Click Here

What things or techniques have you included in your quilting to make YOUR quilting more efficient?

Please leave your comments below or send them to me in an email to longarmu@ aol.com

Stay healthy, stay busy, keep quilting!!! 

Is it Good?? Maybe Not!!

I am writing about a recent customer quilt that I completed, which turned out to be a “learning experience.”

Here are the details –  Sunburst Quilt This is a pattern that is based on pinwheel blocks. IMHO pinwheel blocks ALWAYS have problems with “lumpy” and thick seam joins – which pinwheel patterns are notorious for!

Piecing hint – press any diagonal seams OPEN and the seam joins will be MUCH less bulky!

Because this quilt was done during the Covid pandemic, the quilt was dropped off at my front door. I did a cost estimate and quilting ideas which I sent to my customer via email.

Here is the Quilting Ideas and Estimate I sent to my customer

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Sunburst Quilt – 64 x 74 inches (4,736 square inches)
click on any photo for a larger view

Note – This photo is from the pattern cover.

I have two different ideas for this quilt.

#1 – All over “waves” which will go horizontally across the quilt. I am thinking a very pale yellow cotton thread (Signature, Sand Dollar color) See photos below, which are from another customer quilt from a few years ago.

 

#2 – Baptist Fan quilting as an all over pattern. The Baptist Fans (interlocking quarter circles) is quilted using circle templates and would be the higher of the prices quoted. I would use the same light yellow cotton thread as above. See photos below. These are my personal quilts.

  

Pricing

Thread – $10
Batting – $15 – Soft & Bright (Warm Co) preferred
Quilting – $175 – $250, depending on the quilting idea chosen

Let me know your thoughts and if you approve of the quilting ideas I have suggested.

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My customer choose #2, the all over Baptist Fans option, which I would charge $250.

At a quick glance, you might say, “Wow!! That is a lot of $$ for that size of quilt!” And, if you do the math, it is over 5 cents per square inch! And you may be thinking “Woo hoo, I am laughing and dancing all the way to the bank!!”

Before you do that, let’s put some more thought into this. Here is where the TIME factors into things.

Before I started the quilting, I had estimated about 8 hours of my life would go into this quilt. If I divided $250 by 8 hours, I would be making $31.25 per hour working on this quilt, which is barely above my minimum hourly wage goal.

Note: when I am in my studio working on a customer quilt, I want to make at least $30 per hour minimum on ANY quilt I am working on! This may seem like a lot of $$, but it also includes the operating expenses of my business of at least 30%. I would be making about $21 per hour after expenses. FWIW – minimum wage where I live (Seattle, WA) is $15 per hour.

That’s the estimate, the reality is that I spent almost 12 hours working on this quilt! Why did this quilt take so much more time? (How did I know it took me 12 hours to complete this quilt? Because I timed myself while working on the quilt and documented it on my worksheet. For details on this, check out my online class, Your Customer Worksheet by Clicking Here)

I have not quilted Baptist Fans for a while and I forgot how time consuming they can be to quilt. I use templates when I quilt the Baptist Fans and any templates (of any kind) WILL add extra time to the project.

Remember, this piecing pattern is based on pinwheels and I had to deal with the thick seam joins with extra starts, stops and trimmings – all of which added time. Even if I did an all over pattern or a pantograh, I would STILL have had to deal with the thick seam joins which would have added extra time to the quilting.

Let’s do the math on more time – $250 divided by 12 (hours) equals – $20.83 and if I allow 30% for my business operating expenses, my hourly wage would be $14.58, which is slightly below minimum wage in my area.

The lessons learned from this are –

1 – although the initial price seems high, when the quilt is finished you may be making LESS $$.
2 – don’t be afraid to charge more for more detailed or time consuming work. The MORE time it takes to do the work, the MORE $$ you should be charging.
3 – If you are using templates (of any kind), add MORE time and $$ to your estimate.
4 – the next time I quilt Baptist Fans, I WILL charge more – a LOT more!!!
5 – just because it cost more, it doesn’t mean you will be making more $$$

By the way, the quilt turned out fabulous and my customer was delighted!

  

Let’s do another scenario –

Let’s say that my customer chose Quilting Idea #1, wavy lines, instead of Baptist Fans, at $175. (.036 per square inch)

I could easily get that quilting completed in four hours. That would give me an estimated hourly wage of $43.75 per hour, less 30% operating expenses would equal $30.62 per hour!! Now THAT is a wage I can live with!!

If you have not been timing yourself when you are working on a quilt, PLEASE, PLEASE, start doing so!!! You will be AMAZED at what you can learn!

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Please leave them below or send them to me in an email to longarmu@aol.com.

Pricing Survey Results

I want to thank everyone who participated in the Pricing Survey I posted a few weeks ago. It was fun looking at all the results and then compiling them so YOU can read them.

There is a little too much information in the responses to post directly on this blog. I made a pdf file of the responses for each quilt. Just click on the highlighted text and the pdf file should open. If you want, feel free to save the results on your own computer.

Feel free to comment on the results either by leaving a comment below or sending me an email at longarmu@aol.com

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Quilt #1 – Scraps & Chevrons, 55 x 55 inches
3,025 square inches, 21.0 square feet, 2.35 square yards
To view the survey results for Quilt #1 Quilt 1 Results

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Quilt #2 – Winter Night, 61 x 76 inches
4,636 square inches, 32.20 square feet, 3.60 square yards
To view the survey results for Quilt #2 Quilt 2 Results

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Quilt #3 – Christmas Diamonds, 56 x 64 inches
3,584 square inches, 24.9 square feet, 2.77 square yards
To view the survey results for Quilt #3 Quilt 3 Results

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Quilt #4 – Double 9 Patch, 60 x 78 inches
4,680 square inches, 32.5 square feet, 3.61 square yards
To view the survey results for Quilt #4 Quilt 4 Results

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I welcome your comments, thoughts or anything else about these quilts and the responses to the survey. Leave your comments below or send me an email at longarmu@aol.com

 

 

A Pricing Survey

A few days ago, I posted about an upcoming class. Pricing Cost Analysis on March 23, 2020. (For information on this class, Click Here) As part of this class, we do a little exercise on what YOU would charge to quilt some quilt tops. I thought it would be interesting to do the same pricing exercise on this blog.

Here is how it works – this is totally voluntary and it is completely anonymous. I do NOT know who you are and I cannot “track” your answers. I am using Survey Monkey www.surveymonkey.com for the questions and answers. I do have a question at the end about your location. You can enter your State / Province or region (Midwest, Northwest, Deep South, New England, etc.)

Below are photos of four different quilts with all the information about them. The link to the pricing survey is included (and highlighted) in the quilt information. Each quilt / photo has a different survey. If you would like to answer the survey on all the quilts, you will have to answer four sets of questions. If you would like to do only one quilt survey,  you can do that. YOU choose how many surveys you would like to answer.

I will leave the links to the surveys “active” for a week or so and then I will close them.  I will compile the data and post the results here on the blog.

It will be interesting to see the range of the prices and if there are some other interesting data that is collected.

If you have any questions about any of this, contact me at longarmu@aol.com. Or, if you would like to send a private comment to me about this, send it to the same email. Feel free to leave a comment below in the comments box.

Please note – if you are attending the Pricing Cost Analysis class, the same quilts and photos will be posted, but it is a totally SEPARATE survey and will be open to only those who are attending the class.

About the quilts – I pieced each of these quilts about 15 or more years ago. I like using these quilt tops in this class because there is a wide range of piecing styles which will allow for many different quilting styles and quilting options.

Click on any photo for a larger view

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Quilt #1 – Scraps & Chevrons, 55 x 55 inches
3,025 square inches, 21.0 square feet, 2.35 square yards
To take the pricing survey for the Scraps & Chevron Quilt
This survey is now closed

Quilt details –
9 inch blocks with 1-1/2 inch sashings, 6-1/2 inch outer borders. The edges of the outer border are bias edges.

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Quilt #2 – Winter Night, 61 x 76 inches
4,636 square inches, 32.20 square feet, 3.60 square yards
To take the pricing survey for the Winter Night quilt
This survey is now closed

Quilt details –
Outer border is a total of 9-1/2 inches – inner purple printed border is 1-1/2 inches, the pieced border area is 6 inches and the outer solid purple border is 2 inches. The snowflakes are 12 inches, the roofs are 6 inches deep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Quilt #3 – Christmas Diamonds, 56 x 64 inches 
3,584 square inches, 24.9 square feet, 2.77 square yards
To take the pricing survey for the Christmas Diamonds quilt
This survey is now closed

Quit Details – 
Outer printed border is 6 inches, inner border is 2 inches, blocks are 8 inches

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Quilt #4 – Double 9 Patch, 60 x 78 inches
4,680 square inches, 32.5 square feet, 3.61 square yards
To take the pricing survey for the Double 9 Patch quilt
This survey is now closed.

Quilt details –
The small red squares are 1-1/2 inches, the 9 Patches are 4-1/2 inches, the large “solid” square is 13-1/2 inches. The outside edges of the diagonal setting blocks are on the straight of grain

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If you have any questions about the quilts, need more information or have any comments, please contact me at longarmu@aol.com

I look forward to seeing and compiling the data for each quilt!

A Pricing Cost Analysis

A LOT has been happening over the last few weeks and at this time we are all in a state of social distancing and (possible) self-isolation! As quilters, as business people, and as women (as most of us are) we always seem to have a LOT to do and we will keep busy, no matter what.

This can be the time where not only are we catching up on backlogged customer quilts or working on our own quilts, we can be working on our quilting business!

Join me on Monday, March 23, 2020 at 1 pm Pacific Time, for a LIVE, in person, online class about a Price Cost Analysis and how to apply this to your business. I know that this sounds dull, boring and scary, but this is information you NEED to know! You NEED to know how your business costs affect your pricing structure.

For more details on this class Click Here

If you have been in business for a while – you need this class!!
If you are starting your machine quilting business – you need this class!!

Note: This is a great time to start a machine quilting business! If I am a piecer and I have to stay home, I am going to be piecing a quilt top or two. They will need to be quilted – and YOU can do it!

If you have been quilting for others for a while, this is the time to communicate with your customers and tell them you are ready to quilt their quilts! I will talk about this in a future blog post.

This LIVE, online class will be about 2-1/2 hours in length, possibly a little bit longer, and there will be time for questions, answers and discussions.

This is the time to take what you have learned in this class, apply it to your business and make your business more profitable – and the word “profit” is NOT a bad word!

For details and to register for the Pricing Cost Analysis Online Class Click Here

If you have any questions about this class, please contact Cindy Roth at longarmu@aol.com 

Stay safe, stay well and keep on quilting!!!

Finding Customers Online Class

I want to thank everyone who responded to the question on my previous post of “what is custom quilting.” I am still working on my custom quilting article and hope to have it completed soon!

Last month I hosted my first ever LIVE online class, Finding Customers for your Machine Quilting Business, and it was great! The people who attended were wonderful, there were several lively discussions and we all had a great time. Everyone who attended, including me, learned a LOT! 

I was able to record the class and it is now on the Longarm Classroom website. To view the information about the Finding Customers class Click Here When you register for this class you have 90 days of 24/7 access to the online class.

In this class we talk about finding local customers, customers from out of the area and how customers can find YOU!

If you are just starting on your machine quilting business journey or you have been quilting as a business for a while, you NEED to attend this class!

To register for the Finding Customers for your Machine Quilting Business online class Click Here

If you were a student in this class and would like to comment about it, please feel free to do so. I look forward to reading your comments. If you would like to send me a private comment, please send it to me at longarmu@aol.com 

I am planning on having another LIVE, online class in the not too distant future! When that class is ready, I will be sure to let you know about it! If there are any topics you would like to see in a class,  please let me know.

 

Something New!!!

Many times I have been asked if I do online classes and the answer is yes, I have lots of machine quilting online classes on the Longarm Classroom website. To view this website Click Here 

I have also been asked if I have live, online classes, and I have had to answer no, I don’t.  Until now!!!

I have taken the leap into a new technology world and will be offering LIVE, ONLINE classes!

My FIRST, live, online class is scheduled for Saturday, July 13 at 1 PM Pacific Time! 

This class is titled Finding Customers for your Machine Quilting Business. It is a 2 – 3 hour class and all you need is a computer, or a laptop, or a mobile device to attend!

In this class I will talk about

• How to find local customers – and it’s not only via a local quilt shop.
• How to find out of the area customers.
• How customers can find you!
• And much, much more!!

Since this is the FIRST class I am doing this way, I am offering a discounted class fee of only $35! 

For More details on this class and how to register, Click Here

Note: This is the ONLY way you can access this class information!

I hope you will join me on my FIRST ever, live, online class! I know there may be a few hic-ups in the class – we can muddle through them together!

This class will be recorded so you can view it at a later date. The details of this are being worked out. When the recorded class is available you will be notified via email.

I am extremely excited to share this information with you and this is the only place I am advertising my FIRST ever live, online class.

Over the next few months I am planning on putting all the classes of my Business Basics Boot Camp online either in the LIVE class or the recorded class formats. When those future classes are ready I will be sure to let you know!

If you have any questions about this class, or questions about finding customers for your business, please send me an email at longarmu@aol.com

I look forward to welcoming you to the Finding Customers for your Machine Quilting Business class on Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 1 pm Pacific Time! 

The Process of Pricing

I recently taught a Longarm University, Machine Quilting Basics class, where I teach people how to use their longarm machine and how to run a successful machine quilting business. As part of this class, we do some role playing where they (the students or one designated student) is my customer, I am the (professional) quilter and we go through the steps of taking in a customer quilt.

I also do quilting for my favorite charity, American Hero Quilts. I usually have about 6 – 10 quilts that need to be quilted and when I’m done with them I drop them off and take a few more home for quilting.

In this class, I used one of the American Hero Quilts from my “stack” and we discussed quilting, timing, possible problems, etc., etc. The more I looked at that quilt, the more I WANTED to quilt it – like, right now!!! I had a lot of commitments coming up and knew I couldn’t quilt it, like, right now.

But life is strange! The commitments were postponed a week or two, and suddenly, there WAS time available to work on this quilt! So I did.

In the process of working on this quilt, I decided to write about my process of pricing a quilt, timing the quilting and other things. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of the quilt before quilting, but you can see from the finished photos, the quilt turned out really, really nice!

Click on the photos for a larger view.

Let’s start at the beginning

This quilt is 67 x 85 inches (5,695 square inches) and nicely pieced. There were some thick seam joins, but the quilt laid mostly flat and square. (I have no clue who pieced the quilt.)

In all my many years of quilting and piecing, I don’t recall seeing a block setting like this quilt. (There may be an adaptation of it being made in the not too distant future.)

As I was looking at the quilt, I knew that an all over design, either a pantograph or a free hand all over design, was not going to be quilted on that quilt. I also “saw” lots and lots of feathers in the quilting! Which means that the quilt will be custom quilted. (Custom quilted being defined as different patterns in different parts of the quilt.)

I knew that I was going to change the color of thread to match the colors of the fabric.

I estimated that it would take 6 – 7 hours of quilting to complete this quilt.

With the above information, here is how I would determine a price for the quilting –

My base price for quilting (which is in my brain and NOT published anywhere – except here) is 3 cents per inch. So I did the math (5,695 psi x .03) and came up with $170.85. Which, for what I wanted to quilt, was TOO low. So I did the math again at .035 cents per square inch and came up with $199.32 which I rounded up to $200. This is a better price, but I knew the quilting would take more time, so I added another $50 and determined that $250 would be the LABOR ONLY price of the quilt.

Note: this price is for free hand quilting only. If I were going to use templates on any part of the quilt, I would add at least an EXTRA 25% minimum ($62.50 rounded up to at least $70) to the labor price.

If you want to take the math a step further, the price of $250 divided by 5,695 si = .0438 cents per square inch.

To recap, this quilt, 67 x 85 inches, will be free hand custom quilted with feathers, no templates, for $250.

When working with my customer, they know NOTHING about my calculations and they are presented with the labor only price.

I also estimated that there would be a $15 charge for thread and $15 for Soft & Bright (Warm Company) polyester batting, which was purchased wholesale.

For an blog article about the cost of thread Click Here

I am also putting the binding on – making the binding and applying it with my home sewing machine. For this I charge $3 per running / perimeter foot. This quilt has 26 running / perimeter feet x $3 = $78 for binding.

The total charge for this quilt (if I were charging for it) is

Quilting labor $250
Thread $ 15
Batting $ 15
Binding $ 78
Total $358 + any state sales taxes

Quilting Time

My quilting time break down is – (time is measured in hundredths – 15 minutes = .25, 30 minutes = .50, 45 minutes = .75

Putting the quilt on the machine: .50
Stitching time: 2.75 07/28/18
Stitching time: 3.00 07/29/18
Total hours 6.25 hours

Quilting details

All the quilting was done free hand. I did mark registration lines on the quilt top so that the curves of the feathers were consistent (not perfect). There was a little more time used because I changed my threads two or three times in each workspace** and I did “turn the quilt” to quilt the side borders. I chose to turn the quilt because I was using a different color of thread in the borders than in the body of the quilt. (For information on Turning the Quilt Click Here)

** I find that this is the most efficient way of quilting mostly equal sections of same color fabrics in a workspace.

Hours / Pricing break down

It took me a total of 6.25 hours to finish this quilt and I would be charging my customer $250. If you divide $250 by 6.25, that equals $40 per hour! Not too shabby!

Binding Break down

It has been a long while since I have actually timed myself on adding the binding to a quilt and I was very pleasantly surprised at the results. I estimated it would take me about 1-1/2 hours to put the binding on, but it took a little less than 1 hour!

Here are the details –

Making the binding – cut strips selvage to selvage, stitched them together and pressed wrong sides together: 20 minutes
Stitching the binding to the back of the quilt : 20 minutes
Top stitching the binding in place on the front of the quilt: 20 minutes
Total binding time 1 hour

Cost of binding $78, time to do it 1 hour. No math involved and I LIKE those numbers!!!

If you are not offering binding services, I beg you to re-consider. You are losing $$$ – a LOT of $$$!! I know that you will not bind every quilt that comes to you, but if you offer binding services, you CAN make a substantial profit!

I hope that this has given you some insight into how I price a quilting project and how the timing of your work on a project can help you determine if you are making a profit – or not!

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to leave them in the Leave a Reply box below. Or, if you would prefer, you can send me an email at longarmu@aol.com

Timing Challenge Update

I received this email a few days ago –

I’m reporting on your challenge! I have taken your challenge and mostly been able to stick to it by using a stopwatch feature on my FitBit, and when I forget to hit the button, I guesstimated.

I recently did a batik throw, measuring 48 x 41. (1968 square inches) Originally I was going to do an allover pattern but the quilt “spoke” to me so I ended up doing more creative things on it. Here are my statistics.

Setup on longarm, including quick pressing, winding bobbins, pinning on and basting. – 0.75
Quilting Time – 1.0 + 0.5 + 2.5
Finishing Up – rough trim, bury threads I missed, check over and recheck, invoicing – .5
Total time 5.25 hours.

At 0.4 cents per square inch, that invoiced out at $78.72, or $14.99 per hour for my time, which isn’t bad, but my “hourly” rate is $25, so this quilt either took too long or I am not charging enough. Basically it should have taken me three hours start to finish based on a $25/hour labor rate. No way could I have done this amount of work in that time, unless I had stuck to my original plan of an all over design.

I have eight more quilts lined up to go so I will continue the challenge and see how things really are… It’s eye-opening!

Karyn Dornemann
www. karynquilts.com
(posted with the quilters permission)

Here are some photos of the quilting Karyn did – Please click on the photos to enlarge the view. I left the photos large so that you can see the detail of the quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karyn, I am glad to hear that you timed yourself when you were working on this quilt – which, by the way, is amazing! You did a fabulous job on the quilting!

I agree, timing your work IS eye opening! When something like this happens to me, I call it a “learning experience” and I hope that I do LEARN something from it.

I would like to make a couple of comments-

I think all quilters, at one time or another, have had a quilt “speak” to them and they change the original quilting designs to something else. It always seems that the change(s) will take more time and be more detailed quilting.

All of these changes are assumed to fall under the “do whatever you want / quilt as desired” statement and documented on the worksheet and approved by the quilt’s owner.

Personally, if I choose to quilt a more complex, detailed design, then I “absorb” the extra time and the (potential) loss of the extra quilting $$.

I do not add extra $$ to the cost of the quilting job after I give a written estimate to my customer. Think of how you feel if something costs more (possibly way more) than what you were told it was going to cost at the start! (Think car repairs!)

I will still keep track of the quilting time involved so that the next time I use that technique, pattern, template, etc., I will be able to give a more accurate estimate due to the extra time involved when using that technique, pattern, template, etc., on the next quilt.

Let’s say you are intaking a quilt and the customer says, “I really like what you did on so-and-so’s quilt, (or seen on another quilt someplace else) can you do it on my quilt?” You know what pattern / design / technique that she is talking about and you know that it will take longer to complete. Or, you suggest a pattern / technique / template, etc., and you KNOW that it will take more time to complete. Whatever the scenario, in your mind, figure out how many extra hours it will take – then by all means, ADD extra $$ to what you will charge to cover the extra time it will take to for you to complete the quilt!

Going back to my contractor example from a few posts ago – if you were working with a contractor on a home improvement and you wanted to add something that would take more time and effort for the contractor to do, wouldn’t the contractor charge extra for this? Then why shouldn’t you, as a “quilting contractor” do the same thing.

Recently, I was working on a customer quilt and I came up with a new border design using one of my templates. I knew it was going to take more time, but I didn’t know HOW much extra time it would actually take. My choice was to go ahead and use the new design and assume it would take extra time to quilt.

The quilt was 96 x 96 inches and I estimated about 2 hours for the (original design) border quilting. The actual quilting time for the border, using the new design, was 4 hours! This was a “learning experience” for me (one of many.) If I use that design again, my choice would be to add extra $$$ – a lot of extra $$$ – to my fee! OR, I can do less intense quilting in the body of the quilt (less time) and the more intense border quilting (more time) and between the two, they would equal the time for a “normal” quilt, which I would charge accordingly.

I know, this is all as clear as mud!!

Going back to the Karyn’s quilt in the email – small quilts are NOTORIOUS for taking a LOT longer to quilt! (Ask me how I know this!)

I know that I will look at a smaller quilt and think “if I do this more complex, time consuming technique /pattern, template, etc., it won’t take THAT long!” Guess what? Most of the time it does take longer (sometimes a lot longer) to finish!

With a small quilt, I will generally over estimate the time / cost of the quilting. If it takes significantly less time to quilt, I can always reduce the price of the quilting, which makes my customer happy. But if it takes longer to quilt, then at least I have some $$ for my time and effort.

Having these “learning experiences” is how we learn what techniques take more time, and on the flip side, which techniques take less time to quilt!

By timing your work, over time, you should get a bunch of averages. You should get an average amount of quilting time on a quilt, which you can break down to Queen size, King size, etc. You should also get an average price for your quilting, which you can, again, break down to techniques, such as average price for template work, free hand work, pantographs, etc.

From all of this, over time, you will be able to figure out if you are really making any $$ with your quilting!

Yes, I know we all are having way too much fun quilting, but, if you are quilting as a business – and many of you are quilting as your main source of income – then you NEED to KNOW all this information and you need to KNOW if you are making any $$.

As always, I welcome your comments and I hope to hear from more of you about your results from timing your work.

Post any comments in the comments box or if you would like to contact me personally, send me an email at longarmu@aol.com.