Most of the people who will come through 52 Photos may not understand why quilters need to have lots and lots and lots of fabric. Frank is in that crowd as well! But my quilter friends will understand!These are just a few of my newest additions. I can't even begin to tell you how many hundreds of yards of fabric I have. I really don't want to know. But I can tell you in 2014 I bought more than I
used.
| Yards used this year | -166 |
| Yards bought this year | 218.75 |
| plus or minus | 52.75 |
For those uneducated in the many ways to buy fabric now, these are called Jelly Rolls. They are forty 2 1/2 inch by width of fabric (generally 41 inches) strips. Manufacturers do this so you can get a little bit of the entire collection of that designer.
These are from Moda and originally sold for about $40. Each one will make a lap or full sized quilt when you add fabric for the background and then of course the backing and binding.
That is another level of eduction for non-quilters. When a quilter makes a quilt for you, it can cost $150 to $300 for just the fabric, more for the batting and thread to piece the top. That doesn't take into account the time of the quilter or the wear and tear on their machines. Then it costs about $150 to $300 to quilt the entire quilt. The quilting is the sewing lines you see on the quilt top
So when someone gifts you a quilt, you are being trusted with a work of art that is worth way more than most people are willing to pay for it. One time, a quilt of mine won Best in Show and a viewer got very upset when I turned down her offer of $150 to buy my masterpiece! To say I was insulted, is an understatement!
Not that I would have sold the Elephants of Sri Lanka anyway!
$150! That person could NOT have known anything about quilting. I've had people ask me to make a quilt size quilt and thought $150 was fair. WRONG!
ReplyDeleteWhen I brought one of my big quilts to work to show my coworkers, one of them said, "You know you could sell this. It would look beautiful over the fireplace of one of those expensive modern homes." And how much do you think it would sell for?" I asked, knowing full well she didn't get it. (And over the fireplace is the WORST place to hang original artwork of any kind.) She looked it over, and thought about before declaring, "FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS." I laughed. "You're off by at least a factor of ten. Five hundred dollars barely covers the cost of the materials and the quilting." She was shocked. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. Most people just don't get it.
Amen !
ReplyDeleteomg, I never seem to want to sell my quilts. I suppose there may be enough money in the world but I haven't seen it offered to me yet. I have a proposition for you quilt wise if you can tear yourself away... LeeAnna at not afraid of color
ReplyDeleteFantastic quilt with the elephants!
ReplyDeleteThere is an open storefront in the building where I get my hair cut and the women there did their best to try and convince me I should open a store to make and sell quilts after they saw the pictures of the t-shirt quilt. Once I started telling them the cost of the fabric, the amount of time I had in it, and that I wouldn't make one for someone for less that $1200 they kind of stepped back. Yes, a person could go on line and find a place that would throw together a t-shirt quilt for a lot less money, but it would not have the amount of quilting I put in my quilts or the design. It would just be a sashed piece or where the shirt were just cut into squares. Non-quilters just don't get it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for that education on material costs of quilting. I know the quilter's time and art are part of the quilt cost, but I never realised the chunk that materials takes. And yes, an amazing gift to receive.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand the motivation to collect material. I have some and I don't even sew!
I understand why you have lots of fabric, I am a knitter and have lots and lots of yarn!
ReplyDelete