In this post, I’ll go through some basics of how a quilt is made in non-quilting terms. I’ll also discuss the costs. In case you were curious, but also so hopefully you’ll understand the value of a quilt, in case you are ever lucky enough to be gifted a handmade one.
First, some of the stuff a quilter needs to have.
- A sewing machine or needle and thread. If someone hand sewed an entire quilt for you, even if it’s the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen, please treasure it. They obviously love you more than life itself, as the time and effort of hand sewing an entire quilt is A LOT.
- Many cutting implements. Scissors at a minimum, but also hopefully thread cutters, and a rotary cutting tool (like a pizza cutter for fabric, makes all that cutting go a bit faster). And rulers and mats to help cut precise shapes.
- Thread. Lots of it.
- Fabric. Lots of it. A basic lap size quilt (50-60 inches wide and 60-70 inches long) can use around 4 yards of fabric for the top. And another four yards for the back. And another yard for the binding.
- Pattern.
- Iron and ironing board for all the pressing.
- Pins, clips, or basting spray for basting.
- Batting (the squishy bit in the inside that makes it all cozy and warm).
- Patience.
The basic steps to making a quilt:
- Prepare fabric. This can mean washing, but at a minimum it means pressing it flat.
- Cut fabric up. Depending on the pattern, this can mean cutting into strips or squares or other shapes like hearts, or some combination. But it’s a lot of cutting.
- Sew fabric into different combinations. Taking all the pieces that were just cut up and sewing them back together in new shapes.
- Press. All the seams that were created from sewing the pieces back together need to be pressed flat, so you can do more cutting and sewing.
- Repeat steps 2 – 4, some number of times. Depends on the pattern. One of the “easier” patterns I just did required me to cut, sew, and press all the fabric three times in different ways. Cut into strips. Sew those strips together. Cut those into squares. Sew those squares together. Then keep sewing squares together until you have a whole quilt top.
- Baste. In this step, a quilter temporarily attaches a big solid back fabric to the squishy middle and the pieced top. Basting keeps them all together for the next step.
- Quilt. Hand or machine stitch designs through all three layers to keep them together hopefully for forever.
- Bind. Put a pretty edge around the layers.
I googled and most things I read said a simple quilt takes on average 25 hours.
Examples costs of a quilt, excluding all the gear like a sewing machine:
| Fabric | $45 |
| Thread | $5 |
| Batting | $35 |
| Spray baste | $4 |
| Pattern | $5 |
| Total excluding time | $94 |
So an average lap sized quilt can cost just under $100 for the supplies just for that quilt. That doesn’t include the cost of the sewing machine and accessories required to make a quilt. Or the quilter’s time. As said above, roughly 25 hours for a simple lap-sized quilt. In New Hampshire, minimum wage is $7.25. So that’s $181.25.
A simple lap-sized quilt on average costs a little under $300 to make. The more complex the pattern, the smaller the pieces, the higher the quality of fabric, the more complex the quilting, the larger the size, hand quilting, hand binding, hand piecing, all increase the cost.
This is why quilts are a labor of love for me, not monetization. If I make you a quilt, you’re either a Project Linus recipient or someone I love very much. đŸ™‚
Kathy Eager Creative 