Just a Pantograph? NO WAY!! by Cindy Roth Longarm University Inc.

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Eleanore Griffith
6 years ago
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1 Fifteen years ago longarm machine quilting was totally different from what it is today. Pantographs were the only quilting technique available. The pantographs that were used had minimal amounts of quilting due to the thick polyester batting which was the batting of choice. Thread choices were practically nonexistent. The pantographs of fifteen years ago were limited, and in my opinion, not very exciting and, in my opinion, downright ugly! If you were a longarm quilter fifteen years ago you had no choice, you HAD to do pantographs! Today it s a totally different story! There are many, many exciting pantograph patterns available from many designers with varying densities of quilting. Batting choices are many from very flat to very fluffy and all thicknesses in between. Thread choices today are phenomenal and getting better! I am SO glad that things have changed! Many new quilters (and some longtime quilters) turn their noses up at pantographs and do only custom free hand quilting and that s all right! Everyone has the right to do what they feel is appropriate on any quilt. My feeling is that not every quilt needs high density custom quilting. Pantographs will do the job very well when custom quilting may not be indicated. (Think of a scrappy quilt that will be used on a couch in a family room.) In this article I want to focus in on the pricing of pantograph quilting. Many professional longarm quilters and their customers think that pantograph quilting is cheap and can be done cheaply. I say NO WAY! A well done, well placed pantograph many times looks better than poorly done custom quilting. Choosing which pantograph pattern will look good on any quilt is a skill. Think of the pantograph pattern that you think is the ugliest pattern in the world and envision it quilted on the most beautiful quilt top! Even the quilting of the pantograph can be challenging following the pattern line with the laser or stylus takes a lot of eye-hand coordination. And let s not forget machine issues that might pop up such as tension, thread, etc. No, pantograph quilting is NOT as easy as people think it is. Let s do some pantograph math on a Queen Size Log Cabin quilt that is 90 x 108 inches. We are assuming the pantograph pattern is quilted edge to edge, top to bottom for all over texture, not in distinct rows. Pantograph Pattern 1 You choose to quilt a 15 inch wide moderately dense, somewhat complex pattern on this quilt. You are timing yourself and you find that it takes you 30 minutes to complete one row of this pattern. If you divide the length of the quilt(108 inches) by the width of the pattern (15 inches) you will need to quilt this pattern a total of 7.2 times which we will round up to 8 times. Now multiply 8 rows of the pattern by 30 minutes it takes to quilt and you have a total of 240 minutes which equal 4 hours minimum quilting time. Let s also include an extra 5 minutes per row for the time it takes to roll up and re-position the laser/stylus. That is another 40 minutes (8 roll ups x 5 Page 1 of 5

2 minutes) that is needed to complete this quilt. The total quilting time for this example is 280 minutes or nearly 4 ¾ hours. Pantograph Pattern 2 You choose to quilt a 5 inch wide easy pattern on this quilt. You take 12 minutes to complete one row of this pattern. Using the formula above it will take 22 rows to complete this quilt (5 inch pattern divided into 108 inches = 21.6 rows rounded up to 22). It will take you 264 minutes or 4 hours and 24 minutes to complete this quilt. (22 rows X 12 minutes = 264 divided by 60 minutes per hour = 4 hours, 24 minutes). Let s assume that the workspace of your machine is large enough that you can quilt two rows of the pattern before you need to roll up your quilt. Let s include the 5 minutes of roll up and position time for half of the rows of quilting (11 rows) which will add an additional 55 minutes to your quilting time. You now have a total quilting time of 319 minutes or 5 hours 19 minutes. Pantograph 2, although the easier pattern, actually took more time to complete. Many quilters have multi level pricing with their pantograph patterns. The easier patterns will be priced at a lower level than the more complex patterns. Some quilters will have up to five different pricing levels for pantographs! In the example above, Pantograph 2 would probably have been priced in the lowest range of the quilter s pricing because it was easy. Easy doesn t necessarily mean quick! I did an online search with the words longarm quilting services and began clicking on the websites of other longarm quilters. Most offered multi levels of prices for pantographs and or stipple quilting. (Stipple quilting is an all over jigsaw puzzle piece-like quilting design usually quilted in a medium to small size. Meandering is like stippling but usually quilted in a medium to large size. I am including stippling and in this discussion because they too, are a technique that requires skill and practice and can be priced at multiple levels.) After looking at many websites, I have come up with an average multi level price model. Page 2 of 5

3 Let s do some more math: We will use our original example of the Queen Size Log Cabin quilt 90 x 108 inches. Let s assume, start to finish (no binding) it will take you 6 hours to complete this quilt no matter which pantograph, stippling or you choose. Type of Quilting Large Stipple or Light density pantograph pattern Medium stipple or Medium density pantograph pattern Small stipple or Tight density pantograph pattern Square inch of Quilt (90 x 108 = 9720) Price per square inch Total price Hours to complete Price per hour (total price divided by hours to complete) $ $16.25* $ $20.25* $ $24.30* *These numbers may not look too bad to you. But remember, about 33% goes to expenses, 33% goes to taxes and the rest is what goes into your pocket. Looking at the total price on the table above you will notice that there is only a $24.30 difference between the levels of the Total Price ($ $97.20 = $24.30; $ $ = $24.30). In my opinion, for a Queen Size quilt, this is not a whole lot of price difference. Let s look at three different options that could be done with the information we have. Option #1 Eliminate the lowest pricing level. Even if someone wanted large all over stippling or a large open pantograph, charge it at the medium price. Just by doing that, you will make an extra $24.30 on the quilt. Option #2 Offer all the pantographs and stippling at one price, preferably at the highest level. I know that this may seem radical, but think of how much easier your life would be! By having all the pantographs at one price you and your customer have the freedom to choose which pattern will be best for their quilt and not be confined to just the cheapest. Page 3 of 5

4 Think how much easier it would be to tell a customer over the phone my pantograph / stippling prices are (fill in the blank) instead of my pantograph / stippling prices start at, go up to,etc., etc. Of course, if there are some pantograph patterns that are extremely time consuming, (and you know this because you have timed yourself quilting them) then definitely charge more for them, possibly a custom quilting rate. Option #3 Have one price for pantographs and stippling but raise it to an even higher level than what it is. Another radical concept, but, I feel that as a professional longarm quilter you should be paid a price which reflects the time and $$ you have invested in your business. I would suggest raising your price for all pantographs, stippling and to at least 2 cents or, better yet, 2.5 cents per square inch. In my opinion, any quilter who charges less than two cents per square inch is making well below minimum wage. (Please refer to my previous pricing articles for an explanation). If we use the queen size example of 9720 square inches at 2 cents per square inch, the price for the quilt would be $ and you would be making $32.40 per hour for the six hours it takes to complete this quilt. If you charge 2.5 cents per square inch, the price for the quilt would be $243 and you would be making $40.50 per hour! These are numbers that should make most quilters happy! Just for kicks, lets take this a couple of steps further If you charged 3 cents per square inch, the cost of the quilting would be $ (I would round this up to an even $300) for an hourly price of $48.60 to $50 per hour. If you charged 3.5 cents per square inch, the cost of the quilting would be $ (I would round this up to an even $350) for an hourly price of $56.70 to $58.33! These are very, very nice numbers! Here are some things to remember about pantographs: Pantograph quilting is a skill that is developed with much practice and experience. A pantograph may look better on the quilt than custom quilting. Pantograph quilting is done on a very large, very expensive machine (which you should be recovering the cost of with your quilting.) Pantograph quilting should not be priced cheaply. The next time a customer says to you just do something cheap, like a pantograph, remember what I say about pantographs, look them in the eye and sweetly say, I don t do cheap quilting and just a pantograph, NO WAY! Information is power, and I want you to have the power to ask for and receive the $$$ you will earn for the creative, unique and valuable work you do! Longarm University is here to help you improve your business management! Let us know if this article was helpful for you, and if you have other business areas you would like us to discuss. Page 4 of 5

5 Until next time Let s keep working together to make our quilting fun AND profitable! Note: On the Longarm University website there are free, step-by-step photo instructions in a PDF format on how to quilt pantograph patterns. For a step by step, online video class on How To Quilt a Pantograph, go to the Longarm Classroom website Page 5 of 5

Pricing for your Machine Quilting Business By Cindy Roth Longarm University, Inc Copyright 2010

Pricing for your Machine Quilting Business By Cindy Roth Longarm University, Inc Copyright 2010 When you purchase a quilting machine, whether it s a longarm or midarm machine, a question which is usually asked is, Are you going to quilt as a business? For many people, starting a machine quilting