caryas Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Hi All, I'm just getting started with my longarm business and I have a question. I was just given the opportunity to quilt a Baltimore Album Christmas quilt for my LQS. I consider the type of quilting I did to be Heirloom quilting but please correct me if I'm wrong. It took me 45 hours to quilt this quilt and I used 11 different thread colors. The quilt is 70 x 70". So for the question, how much would you all charge to quilt a quilt like this for a customer? I just charged the owner of my quilt shop my standard Custom Quilting rate of $.04 si but did so knowing that she would be hanging the quilt in her store and it would be free advertising for me. But, if she were a regular customer I have no idea how much I should have charged. Any suggestions? I appreciate the help from you experienced long armers. Here is a link to my blog post with tons of pictures of the quilt http://needledownquiltstudio.com/?p=213 Thanks again, Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Janet, I would have charged .05 since it was so much work and detail but again, advertising will get you lots more work! You did a beautiful job and I love how you did those snowflakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janette Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 If a quilt took me 45 hours to quilt, I would be charging out 45 hours at my hourly rate.... in that time you could quilt alot of allovers at a better rate of pay. Mind you, wether or not i had a customer willing to pay me 45 hours work then that is another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delld Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 I love your idea of the snowflakes using freezer paper!!!!!!! And you quilting is wonderful on this quilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 You need to get paid appropriately for your time spent on this quilt, but negotiation on the fee should have been discussed in advance with the owner of this quilt. Maybe talk and find a happy middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibbyG Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Wow! Really beautiful. I can see why it took you 45 hours. I can't help you on price because I don't charge enough for my quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseCity Quilter Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Fabulous quilting! It is hard to charge enough for custom work, but we should also try to get a fair price. I would charge at least 5 cents.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 lovely quilting, dont do customer quilts so I know nothing about charges, but 45 hours is alot of quilting time. and your work is beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 You did a beautiful job. That is a lot of hours to spend on a quilt and only make .04 psi. Even .05 psi wouldn't be worth 45 hours work. That means you made less than $5 an hour! Custom work is very hard to price. I've decided to charge by the hour for any heirloom type of work and applique almost always falls into that category. I estimate how many hours I think it might take and we agree before hand. I save time by not doing extensive fills and having lots of starts and stops. It is really easy in this business to sell yourself short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aleksich Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Beautiful work, I am with Heidi, I charge by the hour. Especially custom work, and always let the customer know how many hours I expect to work on it, we come to an agreement before I start the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caryas Posted September 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thanks everyone for the advice! I did spend ALOT of time with the small stippling and didn't charge for that this time cause it was my choice to do it to show my work but it's nice to hear everyones advice on charging by the hour. Great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jclark Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 About a year ago I stopped charging by the square inch and started charging strictly by the hour for everything. I try to estimate up front how many hours it will take me and discuss this with my customers. At first it seemed to hurt my business, now I have a waiting list. I do a lot of custom and was just tired of making less that $10 a hour--it is working for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindasewsit Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Wowser, Janet!! That is sosooooo neat! I love the snowflake idea!! Beautiful!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Very pretty! Your snowflakes are wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisae Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Janet, your quilting is gorgeous...love all the photos on your blog! I love your idea for quilting the snowflakes, may have to borrow that one! thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Szymaszek Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 beautiful quilting, love the snowflakes and yes, in the mood for Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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