the cost of a quilt

[tielan]

So, one of my f-list expressed an interest in buying The Promises Of Spring, and I figured it was a good time to utilise a spreadsheet someone in the Australian Quilting Community made about the cost of quiltmaking.

The someone who did the calculation spreadsheet is a he, btw. One of the few males in quilting, and he gains attention for being a male in a traditionally 'female' pastime - the glass elevator, as compared to the glass ceiling. So he's taught to value his work and is valued for his work, even as the women around him doing the same thing are less noticed and less appreciated for what they do.

However, the spreadsheet has a use, which is to put a solid number on an activity where I tend not to count the cost - mostly because I've never had to.

The Promises of Spring is this quilt:



Now, the price that someone would pay for it may be a different beast to the cost of making a quilt. I have no problem accepting a lower price - hell, most of the time I give these quilts away for free - and I believe people online are less likely to undervalue the cost, but it's good to see the numbers and have a better idea of just how much it might cost to put something like The Promises Of Spring together.



Molli Sparkles' post about his cost estimates is here where he explains his reasoning behind the pricing. And in fact, I've probably cut corners in my estimates simply because I'm lazy at numbers - I've always been able to afford to be lazy with numbers.

So that's a conservative estimate of how much it cost to produce the quilt, not counting all the brainspace I used to angst over this or that regarding it. I'm more than happy to sell it at rather less, but it's good for others and for me to have a decent idea of what it costs to make, purely in monetary terms.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

yup

still gorgeous quilt and if I had two grand I'd want to buy it myself

[elanya]

That's much less than I was expecting, honestly. I'd say it's worth more... but I may be underestimating exchange rates ;p

Also, I'm not sure how a quilt like this with so much white space compares in terms of time spent on the piecing with one that has more of a piece pattern? So maybe there is something there too. It is a gorgeous work regardless.

[muccamukk]

Yeah. That's about what I expected. I could probably afford the quilt, but the shipping is doubtful :D

[heliopausa]

You made that in only fourteen hours? You're amazing!
Final total is for cost of production, I think? but I'd suppose the selling price would normally be higher than cost?

[jelazakazone]

I think you might find this interesting. Pretty sure Hunter wrote this before Sprinkles wrote up his thing. (just signal boosting a woman) https://huntersdesignstudio.com/ew-worth-it-2/

Also, http://www.mooreapproved.com/2015/02/quiltonomics-the-real-cost-of-quilts/ is a roundup of sorts on these issues. :D

We need to charge what the worth is work to respect ourselves and also to respect the work of our fellow artists.

[retsuko]

I'd pay at least $1K for that gorgeous work, and I wish I had that amount of money plus shipping, so that I could give it a good home. :)

[beatrice_otter]

It's good to have it all laid out like that--I think most people have no idea how much time and effort it takes. I've never made a quilt that intricate, but I've done enough sewing to know its value and the time it takes to make.