I just finished doing custom--but no micro quilting--no real fillers, just fairly dense quilting on sampler blocks, a simple arc design on border and sashings, was 48x48" and took me about 6 hrs from loading on the frame to unloading. with my 2 1/2cents/sq in (this was heavy enough quilting that I could have charged 3cents a sq. inch but it's her first quilt so I always give a discount) I earned $57.88 cents before the bat charge and the tax (our state has raised taxes so much that I have to pass it along unfortunately). At about $10/hour I really don't think that is super expensive. As a friend and I were recently discussing, there are quilters in the area that will work for less and do less on the quilt for those that want simple meandering for less cost. And that when a quilter will pay $10+ for fabric for a quilt, that griping about the cost of quilting just doesn't seem right.
Had my machine serviced a couple nights ago and the rep was saying that anymore when someone asks how long it will likely take to pay off the cost of a new long arm by professional quilting, she explains that unless the purchaser gets into writing books, doing classes and winning big-time shows, it will take a long, long time as there are many quilters out there and many more that are purchasing less costly sit-down machines for personal use.