Thanks for writing Cheyenne. I get your point about restaurants paying wholesale – did you know that most fabric companies require you to purchase $2000 a year (or more) to get a wholesale account? Most people who attempt to make quilts for a living have to buy at retail to get the right quantities and varieties – and not everyone wants recycled fabric, nor the inherent risk in using products of unknown quantities. Obviously, you get to make your quilts your way, and charge what you want to. I have less of an issue with your fabric choices than I do with your attitude that we are in a race to make the cheapest product possible, and the cheapest cost of labor. To me, it’s like a race to be next in line at the soup kitchen. In ANY other industry, we would not be required to use recycled materials, nor expected to charge pennies an hour for our skills, just to keep prices competitive with mass manufactured items. We make HAND MADE goods, with considerable skill and talent. You might think it’s worth little, but I will continue to beg to differ.

The quilt was beautiful, he paid like $1/lb for the scrubs (his good will only sells clothes by the lb), and then finished it with intermixed blocks and a binding made from a sheet. (plain white cotton backing). I can’t imagine the quilt cost him more than $15 in fabric/supplies and took longer than 3 hours. He’s a wiz with a machine. After the first wash, some of the sheet blocks started to tear out at the seams, the sheet didn’t hold up like we thought. So the next time I saw him, he stitched around the blocks with various colors of bright neon thread in a tight zig-zag stitch… (you can see the border on both sides, so it’s neat looking)

I LOVE the neon thread borders holding my quilt together, 4 years later after tons of personal use, abuse by my son and dogs (they enjoy laying on it when I forget to put it up), it’s held up beautifully, not a seam out of place. I take this quilt everywhere, there is not a vacation or road trip it has missed.

It was a simple quilt, made from “cheap” materials, but it’s beautiful. Quilting doesn’t have to cost a ton. I’m averaging $12/quilt in material for the 50×60 quilts I’m making my siblings for Christmas and I have no doubt they’ll survive for decades. (I have a similar quilt my aunt made me 15 years ago, that my toddler son now uses). If you’re running a business, source materials efficiently like every other business. Do you think Restaurants pay retail for their materials? No, they don’t.

Hi Lynn

To look for an appraiser, start with the AQS appraiser list here http://www.americanquilter.com/quilt_world/appraisers.php
Sam

One question. Does anyone know how I would find someone that can appraise a roll of fabric? I have a political print that I think was made in the 1930’s. I have about 8 yards of the fabric still on the original roll.

I want to price a quilt, possibly for sale. It was made my my grandmother (about 75 years ago). It is a block (rectangles, actually) quilt. Fairly simple design, it is large enough to fit a King Sized bed, I think, or larger. Measurements to come.

It is not a fabulous design, just a simple quilt, all hand stitched. Anyone have a ballpark idea of what it is worth at an estate sale? I may buy it so it is officially mine.

It has been hanging on a wall. No defects or stains.