Originally Posted by
PurplePassion
She had me on her quilting list since early December, I kept in touch with her letting her know when I got it finished and asked her how long it would take her to quilt it and how much she would charge. She lives about 4 hours from me and I wanted to drive there to meet with her and see her designs; but she said she has a lot of people mail them to her. She told me she would let me know the cost when she was done with it and then I could send her the payment. And unfortunately I haven't found a local quilter. It is nerve racking sending through the mail.
I know that some longarmers give a cost bracket, rather than a firm figure, because they base their charges on the amount of time and materials they actually spend on the quilt. But they still provide written estimates and get approval of the price before starting work. Others have a set fee schedule, based on the type of quilting and the size of the quilt. Does she have a web site that gives her price structure? If so, she may think (wrongly) that you already know roughly how much the quilting will cost. Again, it sounds like better communication is needed, as well as a written agreement. I'm sorry you're having such a bad experience. I doubt that there's any real cause to worry, either about not getting your quilt back or about being over-charged, or even about the quilt being lost in the mail, but I do understand why you're frustrated.