Timing Your Work

[simplydivine]

Has anyone read the March article in Unlimited Possibilites about timing your work?

Wondering if anyone uses a stop clock / other method to time jobs?

[Judi]

I don't but I should! Need to fill out a type of time sheet so I have a better

grasp on how long somethings really take me. Hard to do though when

life interrupts you all of the time. I am at home, so that means laundry and

my girls from time to time...... plus the phone and other people stopping by.

The last quilt I did McTavishing all over the background and I like it, but a

person just needs to look away and walk away after a bit! I guess I maybe

don't want to fill out an actual time slip and find out I am getting paid less

than $5.00 an hour...... maybe I know I should..... and charge more too!

I look forward to others answers and if anyone has a time sheet or form

they would like to share with us - that would be great!!!

[mountainmanda]

QuickbooksPro actually has a timer associated with payroll and invoicing. It has a billable box to check for invoicing purposes and keeps track of each individual customer project. FANTASTIC.

[dtreusch]

I've been timing myself now for about 9 months. I print out an estimate from my software and write down the time every time I start quilting, then write it down again when I'm finished or interrupted by laundry, visitors, etc. It has been really eye opening and as a result, some of my prices have been raised.

Last week I was in a pricing class with Cindy Roth and we talked quite a bit about timing. One good suggestion was to get a digital clock that flashed 12:00 whenever it is turned off and back on. Plug it into a power strip with the on/off switch. Just flip the switch when you start quilting and it will work like a stop watch. So, if the clock say 3:25 when you stop quilting, you have quilted for 3 hours and 25 minutes. It's a great suggestion that I plan to use.

Debbi

[sewingupastorm]

When I got my longarm a little over a year ago I started with a new spiral bound notebook. I have a page for each quilt that goes on the machine. I keep all my data on that page. I have a little clock with seconds on it. I record each time I stop and start. If the phone rings I record the time and begin again when I come back.

I also record things like size of the top.

How long it takes to prep the quit.

How long it takes to load

What kind of thread I am useing and color (s)

What kind of batting

Quilting design with some notes

Time to quilt the quilt

Date I load and date of removal

Customer name and name of quilt

The actual time on the machine (mine has a timer for how long it is actually sewing)

The number of the quilt and the number for the current year.

The above is not in the correct order but it gives an idea of what is in my book.

I can later refer back to that little book for data. I also record problems if there are any. I have found that data invaluable in determing all sort of things about my quilting.

[Laurie]

These are all great ideas! I do try to time my work but like others, life interrupts more often than not.

I am new enough to long arm quilting that I still spend an obscene amount of time just deciding what design to quilt! How do you bill for that? You can't, really.

At this point, my customers are giving my artist choice - within reason, of course, and I charge appropriately. But the total hours I spend with a quilt will never be paid for.......at least until I get better and faster at choosing.

[countrystitcher]

Laurie,

I understand where you are coming from about "getting faster". I've been doing this for a year now and I don't feel much faster yet. I work full-time and just quilt in the evenings some and weekends. So right now I'm doing about 1 quilt a week. My list of quilts is growing so somehow I've got to speed up the process. I just don't want this to become a 2nd job - I want it to always be fun and my creative outlet from the office world!

Sharon.

[simplydivine]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I have started writing my times down to see if my pricing is in line. I may pick up a 24 hour timer. Like the idea of digital clock - I have taken Cindy Roth's class at MQS last year and she, as well as others, always have good suggestions. They all inspire us to charge accordingly for our work and not give it away!

[Dreamscapes]

I sure do appricate the input here as starting up past the hobby level .

[Snowflake]

Get a clock that is electric, set the time at !;00 when you start, keep the clock by the door to the room where you work, and each time you leave the room, unplug the clock. When you return, plug it back in, when you have finished, you have the amount of time it took to complete the work.

[quiltbuddy]

I have a question to ask also. I just took in a quilt from a customer, measured the backing and quilt top, they are wonky but she only wants a meander so I think I can work with that, besides she has big borders so can trim back to square off. Anyway, I loaded the backing (45 minutes it took using pins), then when I went to lay her batting on I noticed she only gave an inch extra - not 8 inches as required. I phoned her and she will bring a new piece of batting, but my question is, do I charge for loading and keeping her backing on my machine for 4 days? I did tell her that she can bring the new batting by anytime, that I was working on one of my own projects while waiting for her. What do the rest of you do when this happens. I didn't measure her batting because she said that she had gone to the local quilt shop and the lady had cut it to the size I needed ....... wrong. I am still new to this customer quilting part so have not got into ordering batting wholesale yet.

Janet

[quiltaholi_518]

A great argument for the zipper system, you can just unzip and load something else. But yes, I would charge at least $20 extra, and tell her when she drops the batting off. Say something like, "you know, part of what I charge is the time consuming task of loading a quilt, so I am charging an additional $$$ because I had to unload and then reload your quilt. That's why I am very specific about the size needed for batting and backing" Hopeully you were very upfront with her about what she needed to bring to you.........

[sewingupastorm]

No I would not charge the customer extra for the time to load her quilt because the batting is too small. Before anyting goes on my machine I check out the top, backing and batting for size. I make sure the back is square and right not I will square it for no charge....................I really only takes me about 5 min so no huge deal there (I do not have the customer base yet to add on these charges for every little thing)

I think that before we tack on charges for the customer we need to ask ourselves.................................is this their fault or could I have done something different in the way I did this. Customer service is something that is so important. Remember this is a service we do for people's hobbies. If you get good customer service you will likely tell one or two other people. If you are disatisfied you are likely to tell everyone who will listen!

[DawnCavanaugh]

Hi all,

All of the above suggestions are great!

Here are some additional tips regarding timing and pricing that we teach in the APQS beginner class:

Begin a log book as sewingupastorm suggested, with columns/sections for the following:

1. Consultation time

2. Design planning time

3. Quilt preparation time

a. Pressing

b. Backing prep

c. Checking for errors (piecing, open seams, etc.)

d. Loading (separate columns for size or special quilts like double wedding rings)

The above catagories apply to every quilt. If you record your time investment every time, you'll eventually see a pattern where you reach your own "peak speed". This time investment would need to be built into each quilt. Perhaps you charge a "quilt prep fee" that is based on size of quilt and complexity as opposed to a flat minimum charge; something to consider...

Then, I recommend that you price out all your pantographs according to difficulty/complexity. Put a pantograph on to the table, and mark where a typical crib-size quilt width would stop on the panto; then mark where a lap, twin, full, queen and king size width would stop on the panto. You don't have to actually "stitch" through any fabric, but do a dry run and time how long it takes for you to make one pass for a crib quilt. Record the time on the pattern. Repeat for each size of quilt and write the times on your pattern.

Now when a client chooses a pattern, you'll know exactly how long one pass will take and can multiply that by the length of the quilt (build in time for nesting and/or adjusting each row). You'll be able to adjust your pricing based on the actual time it takes to complete the quilt. Instead of a flat pantograph charge, break your pantographs into pricing categories, and charge more accurately for each panto. Remember buying wallpaper where the sample books had several "levels" of pricing? Your pantos should be the same way--no two are alike and each takes a different amount of time to complete.

Next I'd recommend that you load on some play fabric and mark it off into one-foot sections. In one section, time how long it takes for you to fill the one-foot square with your large meandering. Fill the second with your "medium density" meandering and time yourself. The third would contain backgroung meandering (stippling). Do these "large-medium-small" density squares for every "freehand overall" design that you do, be it loops, stars, swirls or whatever.

When you're done, you'll again have an accurate sense of how long it will take to cover a quilt with your freehand overall quilting and can charge accordingly. If you charge by the inch currently, simply multiply the quilt's length by its width (as you already do) but then divide that number by 144 to tell you how many "square feet" are in the quilt.

So, if I took 8 minutes to fill my 1-foot square with medium loopies, and her quilt measured 60 by 80 inches:

60 x 80 = 4800 square inches

4800 divided by 144 = 33.33 square feet

33.33 square feet x 8 minutes per square foot = 266 minutes

266 minutes divided by 60 minutes in an hour = 4.44 hours to complete the quilting

(Don't forget to add some time for advancing the quilt, adjusting batting, changing bobbins, etc.)

As a bonus, you'll have samples already done to show your clients which describe your different designs and design scale!

Finally, track how long it takes to do "custom" quilting by separating out different tasks. How long does it take for you to:

1. Set up and quilt a typical 6-inch border?

2. Stitch in the ditch around a block (plan on an average of 20 pieces)

3. Center and stitch an open block design?

4. Complete background quilting?

Eventually you'll discover "average" times for each task that will help you establish prices according to how long a project will actually take, instead of guessing or underpricing yourself.

If only we could get everyone in the industry to accurately charge for their time, what a wonderful world it would be!

Dawn Cavanaugh

[sewingupastorm]

Dawn thank you soooooo much for you wonderful and very helpful post! I so much agree with you that I would love to see some sort of pricing that makes more sense. I do alot of the things you say but have never actually taken the time to make the sample you describe for the freehand allover designs or pantographs (I do very few pantos compared to freehand overall).

The quilt I just took off the machine a few min ago is a great example. I did the center of the design with a Reneae's arc as the customer asked. Then I called her to consult on the border as we had never really come up with all the options. Since she is in Phoenix and I am in Albuquerque area I took photos and posted them on my webshots so she could see how it looked so far. Well darned if she did not want a crosshatch. Never done that one before. I decided to time that seperate from the rest of the quilt...................the border took longer than the rest of the quilt!!!!!!!!!!!! I now have an idea of how to break down the pricing a bit more. Since my customer is also a good friend I will likely not charge her that much as her quilt was a total learning experience but I will charge more than I was planning to in the beginning...................we have not discussed price yet so that is good as it needs to be more than I had thought it would be.

In any case I wish more longarmers would charge at least a fair price for their work. There is a lady that is sooooo cheap that she has taken quite a few of my customers. She will do a queen for $40 and that includes return shipping, batting and thread............................not sure what she actually gets per hour but it can't be much....................not to mention that her work is not very good quality...............jsut irks me! Ok now that I have vented about that I feel better! She is not someone that posts here.