What Should You Charge For Your Handmade Quilts? (Your Complete Guide)

One of the most difficult things for a new quilter to figure out is how to price a quilt that they wish to sell.

Trying to compete with store-bought quilts may encourage you to sell your quilts for the same low price as the large box stores, but the value of handmade quilts far exceeds that of store-bought quilts.

This post will explain my basic quilt pricing formula as well as why handmade products are more expensive than store-bought items.

About Quilt Pricing

Let’s start with some often asked inquiries concerning quilt price.

If you’re new to selling handmade quilts, I recommend making your own quilt price chart to serve as a basis for our pricing.

Are handmade quilts valuable?

Yes, in a word! Not only are materials costly, but your time and ideas are also priceless. Quilting is an art form, and your canvas is the cloth. Don’t underestimate your abilities or time.

What is the average price of a handmade quilt?

The cost of a quilt is determined by the design’s complexity, the materials used, and the quilt’s size. The most popular size, in my experience, is a throw-size quilt (about 60″x60″), with an average price of roughly $400.

The following are the average prices for the various standard sizes:

Baby (30”x50”): $275
Twin (70”x90”): $500
Double/Full (85”x108”): $700
Queen (90”x108”): $800
King (110”x108”): $1,200

How much should I charge to make a quilt?

I’ll get into more depth about this subject later, but I want to highlight that the time and effort you put into your lovely quilts deserves to be compensated.

Calculate the cost of materials, establish an hourly fee for your job, add shipping charges if you sell online, and total any overhead expenses.

Why do handmade quilts cost so much?

This is the most typical question I get when people contact me about bespoke quilts. Keep in mind that most people who ask you this question don’t aim to upset you. The majority of people have no idea how much work goes into making a quilt.

Customers pay for all materials used and pay you for your design time and labor from start to finish when they buy a handmade quilt. A quilt takes a lot of time and effort to make, which should be reflected in the price you charge for it.

Handmade Quilt Prices Broken Down

Let’s get down to business with quilt pricing and how to break down your costs and charges. Everyone’s breakdown will be different, so use it as a reference and keep your aims in mind while pricing.

Here’s a summary of all the different steps and amounts of time I consider when constructing a quote to give you a sense of what I mean by breakdown:

Time to plan
It’s shopping time!
Materials costs
Cutting materials takes time.
Quilt top construction
Putting the backing together
EVERYTHING is ironed and pressed.
Taking the batting apart
Time to bast
Time to create quilting patterns
Putting the quilt together
squaring and trimming the quilt
Putting the binding together
Putting the binding on
Trimming any loose threads and strings
Cost of shipping
Finally, lint roller the entire quilt to remove any lint, hair, or thread.

Other charges that you could include in your overhead pricing:

Quilt design software is not cheap.
Cost of sewing machine
Thread, bobbins, needles, scissors, cutting mats, and other supplies and tools cost money.
Cost of advertising
Website price (There will be charges connected with selling online, whether you sell on your own site or through a platform like Etsy.)
Hire: Instead of setting up shop at home, some quilters rent space, or you can rent a long arm machine to do your quilting patterns.

Now, disregarding all of that, let’s look at the material prices for a throw-size quilt. Because the cost of textiles and materials varies based on where you get them, whether you shop sales or buy wholesale, this list is broad.

Material Costs for a Throw Quilt

Pattern: $12
Fabric: 8 yards @ $12 per yard, $96
Batting: 60”x60” throw-size pre-cut batting, $21
Backing Fabric: 4 yards @ $12 per yard, $48
Binding Fabric: ½ yard @ $12 per yard, $6
Total cost for materials only: $183

The total cost of materials for a quilt is also heavily influenced by fabric requirements and sizing. You may quickly enter your yardage into this calculation to receive a general estimate of the cost of your supplies.

What Is the Quilt Pricing Formula?

So, how much does a quilt created by hand cost? I’ll demonstrate how to create a pricing quote using my basic formula. You can use this as a starting point or create your own price formula. Selling your own goods is exciting because you are in charge.

Materials: The total cost of all materials used from beginning to end.

Time: Choose an hourly rate. Remember all of the steps we talked about earlier? Add them all up to get your total time spent. Don’t undervalue yourself; your time is valuable, and you should be able to bill for each stage. Calculate how long you think the quilt will take to make. For example, if you charge $20 per hour and work on a quilt for 20 hours, your total time fee is $400.

Tip: Charge multiple hourly rates for different steps in the process as an option for your rate. You could, for example, charge $15 for cutting and constructing the quilt top and then $25 for quilting it. This is entirely up to you and how much you are willing to charge your clients.

Overhead: Add up any listing fees, transaction fees, website costs, and other miscellaneous overhead expenditures that you want to include from the previous section.

Shipping: All shipping materials are included in this price (box or mailer, packaging supplies, stickers, thank you card, and shipping label)

Once you’ve computed everything, use the following formula:

Quilt Price = Materials + Time + Overhead + Shipping

See! Isn’t it simple? It will take some time to figure out how much everything costs and how much you are comfortable charging. However, once you’ve figured it out for one quilt, quoting the next one will be much easier. You might even try a practice quote to see how well you can determine the final quilt pricing.

How Much Does It Cost to Repair a Quilt?

Have you ever been contacted by someone asking if you could mend a vintage quilt? I understand that this may seem daunting, but if you’re up for the challenge, here’s how you charge for your repair services.

To begin, analyze the quilt’s condition and determine how much material has to be replaced or added. Then simply apply the quilt price algorithm we just discussed. You could also wish to establish a “repair rate” for this type of service.

Quilt Finishing Costs

If you are not comfortable with or do not have the time to finish a quilt yourself, there are hundreds of longarm quilters who have an entire business based on quilting (finishing) quilts for others.

Typically, they charge per square inch, and depending on the complexity of the quilting they do, that price per square inch will go up. For example, if you choose a simple pantograph (a single design repeated over the entire quilt top), you’ll likely pay less than a custom quilting design. Here is an idea of what the charges will be for longarm quilting services:

$0.01-$0.03 per square inch Pantograph
$0.03-$0.04 per square inch from edge to edge
$0.04-$0.05 per square inch for simple custom quilting
Custom Quilting: $0.06-$0.07 per square inch for complex/heirloom quilting

To figure out how much longarm quilting will cost, multiply the width of your quilt by the length, then multiply that number by the price per square inch.

Total = Width x Length x Cost Per Square Inch

Quilting is such a satisfying hobby. The most important thing I want you, my fellow quilters, to remember from this essay is to never underestimate your abilities or time.

You put in a lot of effort and put your heart and abilities into these wonderful works of art. Allow no one to tell you how much you “should be” charging or how much you “are.”

I hope my simple methods assist you in selling your art to the rest of the world.