clsurz

For that size it was more than a fair price. Longarm quilters around here charge around 60-80 for a baby crib one, around 120 for twin size, double bed around $160, queen $240, and king size around $280-300.

Without a quilting machine assuming it were hand quilted it could be double that amount.

Depending on type sewing machine your wife has and she wants to learn to free motion quilt it she could save that money but than again it would be a bear to do so compared having it done on a long arm machine.

You have to consider the time it takes to put it together on the machine to quilt, the wear and tear of the machine itself, the thread cost used to quilt it, and if that person has to bind it by hand it's more.

I would say for what you state your wife is bless it did not cost her closer to $250 to get all she had done to it.

Considering it's a queen size, plus cost of material your wife paid to piece it together, and depending on design requested by your wife when it was quilted that quilt would have roughly at minimu a $600 plus retail value.

IMHO your wife got an excellent deal if all she paid was $200 to quilt it and also have binding done by hand. Around here it would have cost closer to $280 for quilting it and also putting on the binding.

Pieces2

This is a fair price. I paid $185 to have a queensize quilt custom quilted.
I put the binding on myself. If she put the binding on it would have saved a little $$.
To me this is still cheaper to send them to a long arm quilter than to buy the long arm machine.

Olivia's Grammy

It sounds like I'm the only one that thinks it was a bit high. I charge by the square inch. Once I make a price I stick to it. Did she ask for the binding to be done by the LAM quilter?

nativetexan

lots of quilters finish their own quilts. it can be a lot of work though. maybe she can ck with a Senior Center in your area for fellow quilters or ask at a quilt shop if they have classes. learning can be fun. library books and the internet are great too. watch any shows in t.v. on quilting that can be found. I'd say most of us taught ourselves.
and yes, having someone else finish your quilts can be expensive, especially hand stitching binding on.
take it slow and have fun. good luck.

sandybeach

I have been in your wife's place. I love to make quilts, but could not (physically and artistic-wise) quilt one on my home machine. It takes A LOT of arm strength to quilt with a domestic machine (even stitch-in-the-ditch, SID). Even baby quilts. So I sent mine out and waited up to two months to get them quilted and paid $100 for a throw/twin size quilt. So when I found a 9" throat machine for sale with frame (used) for $1500.00, I grabed it. (It is the Pfaff Grand Quilter). It has a shelf that you put pantograms on (paper with a design repeated on it) that you follow with a laser light. After one year, I have found only one pattern that I really like (over-all squiggly line). So every quilt has this same quilting design on it. I really don't like mounting the quilt on the frame with backing, batting and quilt top. But at least I can complete the quilt by myself. So if your wife really likes to make quilt tops, this might be a way to do it. PS: I have also tried the John Flynn method and didn't like it either. I would love to buy a 13-15 inch machine, but can't afford it right now.

So talk to some more long-arm quilters and get estimates. Your wife may find that the queen size quilts are not that necessary and that a throw/twin would be plenty large enough. Good luck. Tell your wife to not give up. This is a wonderful hobby.

dublb

I know that I commented earlier but I wanted say that it is nice that you want to make sure that your wife doesn't get taken.

countrycousin

I would pay someone to quilt amy quilt if I were going to do a joint project. The person would have to realize that the quilt would go for charity.

Quilterfay

Well you can be thankful she is not sending quilts out to be quilted in Saskatchewan because I have paid close to 300.00 to have a queen size quilt quilted with a pantogram and that did not include the backing or putting the binding on.

I have never requested custom quilted as I am sure I could not afford the cost.

I spend the winters in Yuma Ar. and the prices are similar to what cost you are paying.

I know it feels like a lot to a person that does not quilt ...... after all the time we spend picking out the pattern, fabric, piecing it we want it to look nice when it is done. Oh and that does not include all the times we rip it apart because the seam is not straight. Trying to put all the fabric through a 6inch space is very difficult and the results are not always great. We want to be proud of our work when we see it on our bed or on someone else's bed.

I have a quilt that I paid almost 400.00 for the pattern and fabric. Then I paid for the backing and the quilting it came close to 700.00. It was a block of the month by a famous Quilter.

I hope this help you understand the process.

rfbrazell

Hey there Kelly,
I have been quilting for a while. I make about 14 to 20 quilts a year, some for our family, some for charity and some for presents. As a quilter with hind site, I would NEVER attempt to quilt on a home machine anything bigger than a full size. I have done a couple queen quilts and believe it or not a california king. The king quilt was a night mare. We had it rolled up so tight and binding clip. I was running the machine and my wife was pulling it from the other end. NEVER AGAIN. Then when I joined the board I started to read about longarm quilters who would do quilts ofr others. I took the time and investigated and check TOTAL prices and found a couple longarm quilters that were not only unbelievable quilters but had great prices. Take the time and do the research. Some other tips might be watch the fabric costs - shop for buys and discounts (with out comprimising the quality). I always check my local quilt shop for sales and then also on line sales, but always check the shipping costs. Here on the board they have fabric sales from board memebers and you can find outrageous sales, but you have to log on when the new day ads come up as there are lots of hungry fabric shoppers that get up early just to view the fabric sales.
I hope this helps you can PM me anytime if you have anyother questions.
All the best
R

gramma nancy

I'll throw in my two cents worth -- even though, as several posters have noted, it is possible to learn to do good machine quilting on a home machine, it may not be your wife's cup of tea. Some people enjoy the piecing or applique parts of quilting, but have little interest in quilting (assembling) their own quilts. Others enjoy quilting for others more than piecing their own. Still others enjoy and are proficient at all the steps.

I think it's reasonable to do what you like and can do to satisfy your own level of perfection while leaving the other tasks to someone else. No reason to turn an enjoyable activity into drudgery by forcing yourself to complete every step yourself, especially if you enjoy only one part, like piecing.

That said, your wife may enjoy learning to machine quilt and finish her own quilts, but if she does not, less than $200 for quilting a queen-size quilt is reasonable. She may want to learn to attach her own bindings -- a relatively easy task to do well -- to save the extra $30.