Cost for long arm quilting?
 

How much do you usually pay for longarm quilting? just curious as I send mine out and just wondering how mind costs compare to others. Also, is it cheaper to mail them to a company or take to a local quilter? Thanks for your thoughts.

I think it depends a lot on the area.

Make sure you compare apples to apples. Some prices will include batting, some won't some include trimming some don't. What kind do thread is used? What kind of quilting are you talking about? In general (but not always) a panto is less expensive than free hand. Computerized quilters also charge different prices. While most quilters charge by the square inch, some charge by the square foot, and some charge per bobbin.

I just recently paid about $100 for an almost queen sized quilt. I thought it was a little higher than I expected to pay. That did include the panto quilting, thread, batting, and $1.00 per bobbin. I will see if I can figure out how much a square inch they charged. Don't most long armers charge by the square inch? Thanks for the replies.

I was seeking a LA quote for a child's quilt I made it was 60 x 60, and since it had embroidery on it I could do a panto but I didn't want anything too elaborate, the lady wanted $35.00 an hour with a minimum of 10 hours. That did not include backing or batting. I had to pass on that. But I was told by someone else in the area it is the going rate, so I do my own on my DSM or hand quilt. So I am planning on trying to send one out to a location in KS or the MSQC.

I paid right about $100 for a queen sized quilt to be quilted. She supplied the batting and thread and it was computer done.

I pay 1.5 cents per square inch and it is computer quilted. I supply my own backing and batting.

I just paid 80 for an almost twin size. It's about 150 for about a queen e2e 2 cents per inch is standard for my area, not sure computerized or freehand

Usually a queen size with nice design edge to edge, good quality 80/20 batting, choice of thread color, cost me about $170, quilt squared and trimmed. I like edge to edge because there are no thread ends to mess with. There are some LA here that charge about $65. They use low quality batting, white or cream colored thread on the biggests spool they can buy, only loop and swirls edge to edge pattern and their stitches aren't balanced. What is so funny every time they mess up on the quilting, they blame the machine, like it wasn't their fault at all.

Oh gosh! I would never have one done by someone else at that price. I would just have to do the best I could which I'm sure wouldn't be very good!

I think this is what mine came out to. They supplied the batting and thread which saved me time gathering all that so I think I probably paid a fair price looking at this. Thanks for everyone's responses. I am leery of sending one through the mail or UPS out of town. I think I will stick with what I've done in the past for future ones.

They didn't offer to square and trim mine. Wish they did that too. I really don't have a large enough space to be sure it's nice and square. Just do the best I can with a large square and some yardsticks. That's the part I hate....finishing everything up. I don't even like doing the binding. But alas, I do like them finished!! So i can give them away. I own one quilt that I have made in the last ten years....always a gift for someone I love! That's what it's all about for me! Love sewn into every stitch! Thanks for everyone who responded.

I've never paid anyone to quilt one of my quilts but terra32903 (a member of this board) has had the following place quilt for her & these seem like reasonable prices to me.

http://www.happycrafters.net/quilting-services.aspx

I'm a long arm quilter not far from the Happy Crafter in Kansas. She is somehow able to undercut most other long armers in the area. Not sure how, but she does(she also runs a fabric store so perhaps that pays the bills).

most of us in this area charge 1.5cent/sq in for a basic panto or E2E, 2 +cents for border to border with borders done differently; 2.5 and up for custom. That does not include bat or backing, or trimming/squaring. unless you have a computer guided machine, a queen, even with a fairly simple panto is going to take about 5 hrs loading to unloading. Plus your bat/back/thread. Hope you look at that $100 as not a huge amount when you figure the time, the materials, wear and tear on an extremely expensive machine, electricity to run it, having a place to set up such a large machine, and the quilters expertise.

As a couple of others have said, some long arm quilters are switching to per hour prices, especially on custom quilting, because many long arm quilters, when they figured their costs plus labor realize that they are working for way less than minimum wage.

I have had a midarm for 5 years and recently have been quilting for others. I am in Central Califonia, close to Fresno.

My fee for a loose panto edge to edge is .01 per sq in. for a dense panto it is .015.
I do have a minimum of $35. and this is because a small baby quilt 36x45 would ony be $16.20 which would not make it worth my while to quilt it.
I charge $7.50 a yd. for Hobbs 80/20 and $7.25 a yd. for Quilter's Dream poly select.

I think my price is fair for me...I am retired and this is my hobby but I would think that it is a little low if i wanted to make a living with it.

Wow! I'm so amazed at how much cheaper LA services are in other parts of the country. Around here they charge $0.03/sqin + $3/bobbin + $20/hr for any non LA services (backing, pressing, grooming, trimming, etc) + batting ... and that's the cheapest price, using a moderate density panto with Signature thread. So for a 90x100" quilt, providing your own batting & handling all prep work yourself, it runs $280 and up for a panto. Fortunately, there are places around me that rent out time on LA & mid-arm machines and that is much more cost effective if I can't get it quilted on my DSM.

I will say, though, that the work they do is really beautiful. If I had the money & didn't love quilting so much myself, I'd definitely use one of my local LA'ers over the mail-in services that are so inexpensive. The difference in the quality of workmanship is easily noticeable when I see people at my guild meetings show quilts from the mail in vs some of our local LA'ers.

I have not found one as inexpensive and good (for the price) as Happy Crafters. That is who I send mine to if I send one out. I would love to be able to use these fantastic quilters on the board as they are amazing however, I cannot work this out in my budget. Will be looking forward to answers on this board.

some places will let you rent the machine at their place...you might want to look into that

Renting a machine is a good idea for some but consider this..you are paying by the hour...even on my machine I will say to DH .." I just have about one hours work to finish the quilt I have on the frame." he comes in about about
1 1/2 hrs later and asked what happened your not done..

Well the thread kept breaking, changed the needle, cleaned the bobbin area, retreaded the machine, changed the thread and still not half done..

But if everything goes well..the backing is squared, the top is even..no wavey borders then away you go...

If anyone lives near the Orlando, FL area I would recommend Wandering Stitches Quilting Studio. I took a class from them to become certified to use their machine and it was $35. After that I pay $18 per hour for a Millennium LA with a 2 hour minimum. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive for me to the studio so I normally take 3 quilts and finish them in a 6 hour day and that includes me going out to lunch. They are very helpful and they also sell thread and fabric. The last few quilts I made I have quilted on my DSM but for queen size or larger I prefer to use the long arm. It costs me about $108 plus thread to quilt a king size quilt and 2 smaller ones. :thumbup:

We pay 1.5 to 1.075 for edge to edge. It does not include batting. It's a fair price I think.

This is such good information. I did pay .015 per sq inch plus $13.00 a yard for warm and white batting, $1.00 per bobbin which my largest one took 5 bobbins, and so I feel this is a pretty good price. I am not able to do my own quilting due to arthritis in my hands and knees and back. Can't stand for very long etc. so that is out. I live in the "boonies" and the nearest rental machine would probably be two hours which I am not able to devote to such a project. So this is my best solution. I was just curious about costs for others. Thanks to everyone for sharing their info. Love this board!

I pay .02 per square inch. I include my own batting and backing.

My LQS charges $.02 per inch for standard computer quilting. They charge a minimum of $.04 for custom designed computer quilting. You provide the batting and backing. They also have machines for rent, but I don't know anything about it except it's available. I DO know you have to take a class before you can rent time.

bkay

I have not sent a quilt out in about 2 years but it's around 1.5 cents where I live too. I currently rent a longarm but in the past year the owner closed her brick and mortar shop and the longarm is now in her home which is about a 40 minute drive for me...and I have to schedule time weeks in advance. It's not as convenient as it used to be but I hope to have my own LA this time next year.

Sometimes local guilds know about the LA's available in their area. They can give personal feedback.

If you are considering renting time on a LA machine, hopefully you can get a free trial run. Some machines can be difficult to run. Different machines are different. Also, they may not be on a flat floor or unbalanced and therefore difficult to handle.
Also if you want to do some ruler work check the ruler tab and how stable it is.

I quilt on my domestic machine, but like the concept of renting a LA at a shop.

I will have to look into the Happy Crafters services.

I am a Longarm quilter in Iowa. I charge by the square inch...1 3/4 cents (.0175) for e2e... .02 cents for semi-custom... and .03 cents for custom. Customer supplies backing (7inches wider then quilt top and 7 inches longer then quilt top...this allows for loading onto the machine). I also sell 80/20 cotton batting and polyester batting and offer binding service.
So, the quilting on a 60 x 60 quilt top would cost $63.00 (minus taxes and/or other services).

Depends on the design. It is so much an inch where I use to go. I bought my own longarm machine in May.

I charge 1.25 cents ($0.0125) per square inch, with a minimum of $60, for e2e/pantograph, with varying prices for custom, up to 3.5 cents ($0.035) psi for heavy custom.
Like tstransky, I do have batting available, and lately have even offered wide backing, as that seems to be a better deal all around for both me and my customers. My turn-around time is usually 2 weeks or less. I don't charge a "per bobbin" fee nor a "loading fee" (which some in my area do).

If a top or back comes in wrinkled, I will either NOT quilt it or will charge for pressing (and I really HATE to iron, so it's pretty steep!). Needless to say, it only takes once for a customer to forget to press their top/backing.

I have seen cheaper prices online, but I often wonder at the quality of the quilting and thread.

I wonder about that, too. In general, for services, I've found you get what you pay for.

if you got a queen done for $100 that seems a little low price you got a good deal.

Hi, I'm from Pittsburgh PA. Does any one one know of an long arm quilter within 25 miles and what they charge. thanks for your help. Busy Lizzie

The very first quilt I had longarm quilted by someone was 15 years ago, it was king sized and cost me $385. I did not expect that, had never had one done before. I imagine he charges a lot more now than he did 15 years ago. I found out later he is a fairly well known Quilter I see quilts he has quilted in shows a lot. I had no idea back then. I have to say- price depends on a lot of things. Location, the Quilter’s experience, style, materials, thread, lots.
Some Quilters charge by the square inch, some by the project, some do pantographs, edge to edge only, some free hand everything, some do mostly ruler work, some have computerized machines and do a lot different quilting. There are lots of differences and lots of different prices.
I've done a lot of long distance quilting for customers- they ship me their top and backing. I generally provide the batting (for a fee) just so they don’t have to ship it. We always discuss everything, and they sign a contract and send a deposit. When their quilt is done I take pictures, send them with the invoice. They pay- including postage and insurance and I send the quilt back. For some customers it has been less expensive for them than local , for some they may pay me a little more but like my work, or have a deadline I can meet that a different person may not be able to meet. There’s always lots to consider. Shop around ( locally and long distance) and see what will best meet your needs. But I do recommend checking out who is local first- just always nice to be able to see your Quilter, see their work, get to know them. Choose someone who can answer all your questions.

I found a woman on Ebay and have used her twice. She charged 109.00 for a King and supplied the batting. Shipping was around 15.00- I love her work and will send her my bigger quilts. If you want her name send me a pm. She's also fast and very nice to work with. She does an all-over design.