KathyA Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Okay - here goes. Received a call today from a potential customer to have a wholecloth queen size quilt done. Let her know she would need to mark the entire quilt (she has the pattern she\'d like). My question is on what to charge. I\'ve never done a whole cloth. She\'s coming tomorrow to bring a pieced top for an E2E and the wholecloth pattern for me to look at. Custom goes from .03 to .05 in this area. I figure .03 is too low for a wholecloth (and the pressure will be unreal as it\'s her son\'s wedding gift). I\'m thinking more along .04. But is this too low as well? Please help this unexperienced (in wholecloths) crazed soon to be wholecloth quilter. TIA!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted April 5, 2008 Report Share Posted April 5, 2008 Never done one...but I would say, you are going to be using rulers, guides, etc. so I would think .04 would be on the low side....just guessing....I know I wouldn\'t do it for .03. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerekes Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hhhhhmmmmm, Is she crazy? You are going to have to follow pre-marked lines over an entire quilt top. Will there be any trapunto? Trapunto work really, really enhances wholecloth quilts. I\'ve had people ask me to do a wholecloth quilt for them---and I\'ve said: NO. If I\'m going to do HEIRLOOM wholecloth work--then I\'m doing it for myself to enter in a show. I can\'t, in any way, see how you can charge per square inch and actually make any money. I would say NO. If you can\'t say that, then you should give her a range of prices. I would start at no less than $1000 for a simple wholecloth. This sounds really high doesn\'t it? At $20 an hour, this would be 50 hours of work. I can\'t imagine that you will do a \'bang-up\' job on a simple wholecloth for less than that. Maybe someone that has experience with large wholecloth quilts will chime in, but I\'d hate to see you work your heart out for pennies. This is such precise quilting and usually involves a fair amount of dense quilting in many spots---both of which take FOREVER! Have you ever marked up a quilt and then tried to follow the lines precisely? It is very difficult and very time consuming. I urge you to stand your ground on this one! Could she not just make a simple top and let you go crazy with freehand feathers and stuff? This would be a whole lot less time consuming and will give her more bang for her buck. Good luck and let us know what happens! Jill Kerekes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Thanks Jill. My thoughts too - but then I want the challenge but a smaller sized one!!!! I actually referred the customer to another Longarmer that has a computerized system who she is meeting with on Monday. I called to ask him if he was interested and even he hesitated. She\'s open to any ideas or suggestions so he\'ll have the opportunity to purchase a digitized pattern to use I expect. I told her I would not guarantee precision if I did do it as it was all handguided. With possibly facing the need to bury threads that increases the price as well - white/on/white. She does piecing BUT her son\'s request is a wholecloth as a wedding gift. She hand quilts as well but this one she doesn\'t want to do (understandable). She figured she might stand of chance of getting it done if she took it to a longarmer. She\'d do all the marking. She\'s also bringing a pieced top to \'try me out\' even if I chose not to do the wholecloth. If anyone is interested in this business let me know - I don\'t mind giving a referral to someone who has experience with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 I haven\'t done any large wholecloths with trapunto in a few years... but in the past I added an extra charge (starting at $100 and up) for cut-away trapunto in addition to the custom rate for quilting... and this included quilting trapunto motifs in blocks or borders of pieced quilts as well as wholecloths. My trapunto charge was really just an estimate of how much time / intricacy of cutting the batting away was required- not to mention having to load and unload the quilt twice. I did not have a "real" system of calculating the extra trapunto charge... mostly it just depended on my mood that day!! LOL!! I would rather NOT do a whole lot of cut-away trapunto for customers, so I\'m with Jill- I want to own the quilt if I do heirloom wholecloth trapunto quilting!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Well, it will not contain trapunto and the thought of this quilt kept me awake all night. I did some research and am going to gently nudge her toward the Amish Wholecloth Quilts if the other Longarmer is not interested. Good always comes from these dilemas....as I had this sleepless night I created a very simplistic baby wholecloth in my crazed head that I will do for a future grandchild. (kids are not close to marriage that I know of...) It\'s now on my important project list because I need to take this step....and I\'m thinking I will also do some of that painting, pastels..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Kathy, For me the hardest part of doing a wholecloth is all the marking. If she is doing the marking then the quilting should be not so bad. Of course it will depend on how intricate the design is. I would probably charge in the .05 range for this. I would double the fee if she were going to want trapunto because it really is double the work. I\'d also include the price of soaking and blocking the quilt then she wouldn\'t be able to see if you didn\'t follow the lines exactly! I love doing wholeclothes so I\'m sure I\'ll be a minority with my positive response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 I am working on my daughters white on white wedding quilt. I would never do one for a customer. But...if I ever did it would start out at 10 cents per sq inch (just to quilt it that doesn\'t include marking or trapunto). Call me expensive, but the work is tremendous and every bobble in your stitching shows. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryRogers Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Hi Friends! I just released my first wholecloth pattern. The nice thing about this one is you can quilt it as is, or change a few elements. You can see the pattern, the pattern quilted and the pattern personalized. It is on my website under books and patterns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyA Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 The customer just came by. I wouldn\'t have called this a wholecloth. It\'s the same pattern repeated like a panto but large and with swirls. Row after Row. I think it\'s doable provided I have the right rulers. Still - sent her down the road for perfection....and if she comes back I\'ll purchase what I need at MQX..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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