kwilter Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 A member of my quilting circle gave me a double wedding ring top to quilt for her. Now get this...she wants it custom. When I measured it and called her with a price of $242 just for the quilting (3 cents PSI). She yelled in the phone "NO WAY! GIVE IT BACK. When I go on vacation I'll have "so and so" do it." I said fine. She did, however, ask if there was a cheaper way to do it. My question is, I've only seen these tops done custom. Has anyone ever seen a double wedding ring quilted with a panto? or freehand allover? I'll be returning her top Friday morning. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 I have the exact same question. My husband came home last night and told me a lady where he works has a double wedding ring for me to quilt. I explained to him that they are always done with custom quilting. The lady doesn't want to spend a lot of money. Has anybody ever seen one done in an all over freehand pattern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 Nope, and in my personal opinion....which doesn't stand for much....it would take away from the quilt to do it any other way than custom. This pattern is one of the few that I would have to say screams custom work....something simple in the centers and then something foofoo in the bands. But I do think that if it was panto'd or an all over meander it might take away from the beauty and the extremely hard work that the piecer put into it. So I would stand my ground and suggest custom quilting. Can you take a picture and print it out twice, a reasonable size, and draw on it each way custom/medium meander ... show the customer how it would look and then let her decide which way.... Unfortunately we can't always make them understand that they are wrong, but we can do our best to educate them. Like in my case did a panto when I suggested something else and now am frogging because it just doesn't look right, so don't do like I did....do the drawing first.....:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted September 27, 2006 Report Share Posted September 27, 2006 In my opinion, DWRs ought to be done custom. If you customer doesn't want to pay that, and will take it to someone else who will do a cheaper job, bless their pea pickin' little heart! They won't be happy with the result if it's not custom (which means you don't want to do it) and, if they're not paying you for custom, you don't want to do it. Send them packin', is what I say! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingupastorm Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 The more I do quilting for others the more I realize that people are clueless about the process we go thru to get their quilts finished for them. They do not realize that custom quilting takes MUCH longer than an allover design. I am finding that for myself the people in my guild are beginning to discover me as a longarmer and I am right up front about the pricing. "She yelled in the phone "NO WAY! GIVE IT BACK. When I go on vacation I'll have "so and so" do it."..........................................now that is rude! If she did indeed yell I am wondering if you really want her for a customer. I am gonna guess that she will likely not be happy with her quilt when it comes back from the other quilter. There seem to be many longarm quilters out there that will quilt for others really cheap but from the photos I see on webshots the quality of what they do is not great either (I know there are many exceptions to this and people have low prices for different reasons................................it is just what I have seen). I think it is kind of like going out for dinner....................do you want to go out to the cheap resteraunt and get fed or do you want to pay the extra money and walk away feeling that that meal was really special............either way you will have dinner but which experience was better. Now one other point.............................just the materials alone to piece a large quilt runs between 2-5 hundred dollars. Then there is the great amount of time that goes into piecing a double wedding ring. After all that why would someone want to bicker over getting it done the cheapest route. My custom prices BEGIN at 3 cents per square inch and go up from there. I figure that if they do not want to pay that much I will be happy to do an allover or panto or they can find someone else to do it for them. I have made many exceptions because I am new (I only began quilting for others in March but I am getting more and more firm on my prices...............it is my time an I do not want to work for 5 dollars an hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwilter Posted September 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Thank you all for your comments. She IS getting her top back tomorrow morning and it is unfortunate that people don't realize how time consuming custom work is. I hope she brings her finished DWR quilt to a guild meeting for show and tell...I can't wait to see it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltjunkie Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 I did a DWR with a panto!! It was VERY old and in bad shape and was 20-30's fabrics (original). I made the woman, that didn't quilt of course, repair all the seams that were pulling apart. I gave her a piece of muslin, some fine fuse and showed her how to use and iron..when she brought it back (which I was hopeing she wouldn't) she had actually done a good job of repairing, It had ragged edges but I did the Floral Meander panto on it to give it even, overall quilting and the flower thrown in really worked. I was surprised at how good it came out and the customer was thrilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bekah Posted September 28, 2006 Report Share Posted September 28, 2006 Linda, I haven't heard anyone say "pea pickin heart" since my mommy died. I don't think I would want want her for a customer and I don't even have any yet. You are certainly worth more than getting shouted at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durhamh Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I am probably stepping in here where I'm not needed, but I did a panto on a DWR quilt for my aunt. She needed it in a hurry for a granddaughter's wedding. I only had 2 days to get it done, and I am a fairly new quilter. I did an all over feathers design, not sure which one, but it turned out really pretty. The feathers looked like hearts which was appropriate. I actually finished it in one day and got it bound for her. She has a long arm, too, but has lung cancer and is very weak. I think in some instances, pantos can work very well. JMHO, Durham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwilter Posted September 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'll now retype my posting since my kitten just walked across my keyboard and deleted everything I just wrote! Yesterday I returned my customer's DWR top. I couldn't leave my quilting circle, however, without asking her what she had in mind to pay, so I asked and she said $150. This works out to about .019 per square inch. I told her I couldn't do it for that and explained how labor intensive custom work is, esp. a DWR. I'm sort of glad things worked out this way, because I wasn't too keen on doing it in the first place. I've also reached the point where I'm not feeling sorry for my prices because in the 2 1/2 years I've been longarming I've come a long way baby! and I am very good at what I do. And earlier this month, for the second year in a row, I won my second first place machine quilting ribbon at my local guild's 15th annual show! One of these days I'll find some time to post some of my work on Webshots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxley Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Some people really are cheap, aren't they? It's also true that they have no idea how much work we put into the quilting process. My "paying job" at the moment is needlework finishing. People who have paid $300 for a hand-painted canvas, and up to $200 for the various threads to produce the needlepointed Christmas stocking (and sometimes taking a year to stitch it) piss and moan at my finishing price. My basic price is about $50 if they bring thier own fabric. If I provide the velvet for the outside, and satin for the lining, it's $100. The velvets I use run $75/yard (satins are cheap), and I can get maybe 3 stockings from a yard. And then they don't want to pay for me to hand-twist decorative cording, and OH! The Shock! that I won' stitch it on for free! This is why I'm going to retire in a few months. And I probably will never quilt for anyone who isn't a really good friend. My Mille and I will do our own thing, LOL. My advice - hold firm on your prices!! Also, feel free to refuse jobs if you think you will never be able to satisfy a particular customer. Tell them up front "I don't get the sense that anything I can do for your quilt will satisfy either one of us, so perhaps another quilter would work better for you." I do have a buffer between me and the customer, in that the shop owner usually deals with them. But I will call and explain why what they want is a bad idea, simply won't work, etc. Kwilter - I'd really love to see some photos! Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 I SO agree with what has been said here - and Mary - yes - it DOES feel really good to turn away certain people. I just don't need that kind of stress and frustartion in my life! I am having fun and thats what matters to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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