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Making Income By Quilting (Track This Article)

Are you a small scale quilter or a part-time quilter looking to earn some money from your quilt work? Are you having a hard time monetizing on your masterpieces? If the answer is yes, then read on.

Research the market before you begin
If you are serious about converting your quilts into cash, it's important that you research the market before you begin trying to sell. Studying the market helps you discover what types of quilts are currently in high demand in your area. Once you know this, you may consider only making those quilts which are in high demand in your area. This makes it easy to sell your quilts while getting a good enough price for your quilts.

People that take quilting just as their hobby don't have to spend a lot of time researching the market as the results from the research might end up in a conclusion that the demand for their favorite type of quilts is very low. If your choices are flexible or if you are ready to produce any quilt then there shouldn't be any problems for you to generate a good amount of money from your passion.

Setting prices for your work
Pricing a quilt consists of a few steps, the first one being market research which you should have already done before sewing quilts.

Keeping track of the time spent
The second step in pricing should be performed during the creation of the quilt, which is "keeping track of your time". You need to note down or maintain a record of the time spent on each quilt; this includes the total time you spent on the quilt (from choosing a design to finishing the piece).

Start with finding out the overall time you spent on different steps in quilting (preparing the pattern, piecing, basting, quilting, binding, putting your sewing room back in order after the quilt is finished etc.), then calculate the total time taken for all these steps and divide it by the size (in sq.ft) of your quilt. Now you have calculated the time taken to make one square foot of a quilt in that particular type.

Figure out what your time is worth to you
The next step in pricing is finding out the value of your time, or deciding how much the time you sped on a quilt is worth.

If you are a beginner or if you are doing an unskilled job then the minimum wage might be between $6.00 and $7.00 per hour. If you are an expert quilter or doing difficult work, your time is worth significantly more than that. Something around $10-$15 per hour should be a perfect rate in this scenario. Still, it's up to you to make a decision on how much your time is worth. The market research you had done can help you in making a decision about that. You may also contact other quilt sellers near by and talk with them regarding this and come to a conclusion.

Quilt appraisal
An appraisal is a formally written document about the value and other attributes of a quilt. Stuff that might be included in a quilt appraisal are, a complete description of the piece, a defined value, system used in determining the value, the reason for the appraisal (sale or resale, insurance requirements, IRS requirements, equitable division of property etc.) and the signature of the appraiser.

Selling quilts
Once your quilt is finished, you would likely want to sell or promote it so that you can generate cash for the time and effort you had put in making your piece. Small scale quilters, new quilters, part-time quilters, or someone doing quilting as a hobby usually discover that the promotion of their product is tougher than the making. So let's look at a few quilt promotion methods which can be helpful for the above mentioned group.

Quilting brokers and shops
It's difficult for beginner quilters and part-timers to open their on quilt shops and sell their quilts there. For these types of quilters it will be useful to look for other options for marketing their work. There are quilt brokers and handicraft shops that will be glad to offer for sale your pieces while paying a commission. It should be easy for you to find such brokers and stores near by and sell your products through them. Once your products become popular and the demand for your products increases you may wish to step up to larger scale or full time quilting and consider directly marketing your products.

Offering your pieces at online auction sites
Another option available for amateur or part-time quilters is to list their work on online auction sites. There are plenty of them available on the web. Internet auctions make it simple for a quilter to find an opportunity to sell the product at maximum price. Some of these websites even give you options to sell your products at a fixed price instead of listing them for auctions. It's up to you to figure out if you want consumers to bid for you quilt or just buy it at a price you fixed.

Certain websites might even allows you to specify a "Minimum Bid" so that you can prevent your item from being bought at a lower price than you desire. This is a really good method for part-time or hobby quilters to sell their work.

Alternative quilt related income sources
There are many other methods to make money from quilting related things. Next you'll find two of such ways that require a certain level of expertise.

Teaching quilt lessons
If you are an experienced quilter and don't have much time (just a couple of hours a day) to invest, you may want to pick this option. You can find some institutions teaching quilting and contact them offering to run a quilting class for beginners. If you know a unique quilting technique of your own about which you can give classes, it will be much easier for you to get a contract as a quilt instructor. Another option is to offer quilt lessons at your own home. You may use your spare time like this and you should be able to bring in decent enough money from this.

Creating brand new quilt patterns
If you are someone who is good at drafting new and unique quilt patters, you can easily earn lots of money selling them as demand for fresh patterns will always be great. For marketing quilt patterns you design, you can use the same methods described above for marketing quilts.

Like in any business, if you use your time and resources in the most efficient manner it's not hard to build a successful quilting career or generate good revenue from quilting.

Article Castle - Articles Resources: http://www.articlecastle.com

Kirsten Stone is an avid quilt instructor. You can find some of her insights at www.quiltingboard.com/forums/show/450/1.page

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