quiltingnanny Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 Would some of you knowlegable quilters share how you determine a price on pantos and share your prices with me ? I know that the more difficult ones you charge more, but where and how much , do you draw the line. If you could include pattern names with prices for examples would be wonderful ! I have some that are difficult to me, but could be easier to someone more experienced. I don't want to price myself out of the ballpark, but don't relish spending hours and hours on a .01 panto either. Thanks, Glenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraC Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 I charge by the square foot and when I first started they were all $2.25. After about a year I had accumulated quite a few patterns and divided them into 3 groups...$2.25, $2.50 and $2.75. Most of them I've kept in the mid-range...but here are a couple of examples... Angel wings and O Tannenbaum - first price Blustery day and Popcorn - 2nd price some of Nicole Webbs since they are more heavily quilted - 3rd price I haven't had any complaints since people can plainly see the difference in the amount of quilting between the different pantos. I haven't worked this out per sq inch, but am wondering, too, if I'm on par with other LA'ers. Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 I don't divide my pantos per price, just a standard $.015 per square inch. That seems to be the going rate in my area. Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltingnanny Posted June 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I'm the 'new kid' on the block. The other 2 quilters we had have quit. At first I honored their prices. I've found that that just doesn't work. $80 for a king quilt with anything on it. I've tried to make a list of prices. Just worried that I'm going to be seen as 'greedy'. .01 for meandering and pantos such as angel wings .012, more intricate such as popcorn,.015and the really demse ones such as intricate hearts at .03. Oh, those prices include 6oz poly batting. Hobbs 80/20 was 3.00 a yard. I've got to get a system down and looking for any advice. I also have the CL king swirls. What do you charge for that ? It's real dense also. Thanks for letting me 'pick' your brains, Glenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 $2.25 per sq. ft works out to .015625 per inch $2.50 per sq. ft works out to .0173611 per inch $2.75 per sq. ft works out to .0190972 per inch Just had to work the math, but my older daughter is really the mathmatican. Our area depends on who you go to as to what you are charged. We have a lady in the area who only charges .008 per square inch, but she does a very limited number of pantos and that is all she does. She is the least expensive and she gets business. I haven't checked recently if she raised her prices. She is quilting for about $10 a sq yard. Trust me, she is the only one becuase the rest of us value our work more. I start at .011 per square inch and go to .0159 per square inch depending on the pantograph. Custom quilting starts at .03 per square inch and up from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Glenda, You'll discover a wide array of pricing strategies for pantographs--some based on the "going rate" in a geographical area, and others based on different methods. My suggestion is to first decide on an "hourly wage" that you expect to earn at your business--what is your time worth? Then, here's what I'd do: 1. With every pantograph pattern you purchase, place it on your machine and complete a few "dry runs" of the pattern. You don't even need fabric on the machine to do this. Make a couple of passes with your laser light or pointer and follow the design without even running the machine. When you feel comfortable that the "practice pace" you are using is close to the actual pace you'd use when you really stitch the design, move to the next step. 2. Measure along the pattern's length for each of the following common quilt sizes: [*] crib/lap [*] twin [*] full [*] queen [*] king Place a marker or stopper along the edge of your pantograph at each measurement and do another dry run of the pattern, but now time how long it takes to make one pass of each quilt size. For example, you might find that one pass of the pattern for the width of a crib quilt takes 5 minutes, but to make one pass for a queen quilt takes 11 minutes. Write the times right on your pantograph. Of course, you'll immediately discover that some pantographs take much longer than others due to their complexity and detail. 3. Now do some simple math with the average heights of specific quilt sizes and divide the height of the quilt by the height of your pattern. For example, an average queen-size quilt is around 100 inches long. If my panto pattern is 5 inches tall, it would take between 18-20 "repeats" of the pattern to fill the quilt (the variance allows for spacing between the rows). So, if my panto pattern took 10 minutes for ONE pass, multiply that by 18 rows, and that quilt will require 180 minutes of actual stitching (3 hours) plus some additional time to reposition the quilt, adjust the pattern, etc. Once you know the actual time it takes to complete the pattern, you can set your prices according to the wage you want to earn, instead of guessing what to charge and then being "burned" by not charging enough. 4. Finally, divide your pantograph designs into pricing groups, just like you'd buy "grades" of wallpaper or other materials--Pantographs from Category One are $.01 a square inch, Category Two Pantos are... and so on. The average panto price across the country seems to be between $.01 and .02 per square inch. Hopefully, quilters have done the math and determined that the price they are charging is equal/greater to the hourly wage they want to earn, instead of just "going with the flow." Hope this gives you something to think about as you decide your prices. Happy Quilting! Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliagraves Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I'm including a table I found on someone's website (sorry, I looked at so many when researching my business, I don't know where it came from!) that gave some estimates for how long it takes to quilt different sizes of quilts and density of quilting. This might help as you think about an hourly wage. Most of my quilts are in the category C so I can't attest to how accurate it is, but it's a starting point. Sorry that things aren't lining up - I can't seem to get it formatted, but the 3 different time estimates correspond to the different categories. Category A "all-over" quilting of a simple freehand design Category B adding border designs and turning the quilt Category C custom heirloom designs or complex, artistic quilting Size A B C Lap 45?x60? 2-3 hours 3-4 hours 5+ hours Single 70?x90? 2-3 hours 3-5 hours 6+ hours Double 80?x90? 3-4 hours 4-6 hours 7+ hours Queen 90?x100? 4-5 hours 5-7 hours 8+ hours King 120?x120? 5-6 hours 6-8 hours 9+ hours Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnldy Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 Most everyone in my area (Southern California) start their simplest, biggest meander at $.015 per sq in and custom starts around $.026 per sq in. THere are usually minimums of $40 for just putting it on the machine. $65 for custom minimum. $80 for a king with anything on it is ROBBERY for you, the quilter and one $%^& of a deal for the piecer. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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