Someday I will take one to a LAQ...I'm not that good of a piecer yet in my opinion. I do love to do the quilting myself on my little domestic machine. I have spent more time on the quilting than on the piecing...so I can see where a LAQ has to charge enough to make a profit.

Since I am not a LAQ, I haven't had the experience myself, but I would think that taking someone else's work (that they believe to be wonderful and perfect) and having it wave, rumple, and otherwise misbehave and then turning it into the "treasure" that the maker believes it to be...well...I think LAQers are just MAGIC! Whatever the cost is...they probably don't charge enough in most cases.

Nice to know -- thanks! :D

You get what you pay for. If you use good fabric and spend the hours that I do on quilts and have it quilted by a long-arm quilter who turns it into an even more beautiful quilt, I am willing to pay whatever she asks. Those machines are very costly. About 25 years ago, I handpieced a quilt and had it handquilted by some church ladies. Back then, the price was $100, which included thread and batting. Their work was beautiful (small stitches). The woman said, "I know the price seems high, but when we figure it up, we are making 10 cents an hour."

I don't think you will be able to compete in price with quilts made in China. You will need to differentiate yourself in some other way. After you win many awards you will be able to sell your quilts for a profit. Until then, it's an expensive hobby.

If that's the case, you probably aren't using quilt shop fabric and then it wouldn't be worth it for you. If you have paid $8+ for the fabric, used quality batting and thread you should have at least $150 in materialsfor a queen size, plus your time. If you go to the effort to make a quality product, why wouldn't you want to make it even better with beautiful quilting. As the saying goes, "Quilting makes the quilt". If you are using fabric from other places, then it may not be worth it to you.

Joanne in WY

I paid $75 to do a small quilt (lap size). The price included the batting and the quilter did the binding which was made from leftover pieces of the backing.

Just my two cents. I am a handquilter for hire. I have very few customers these days as most people have it done by a longarmer. My prices start at 10 cents a square inch and go up. I also charge extra to mark and bind. It usually takes me at least a month or more to do a bed size quilt. The bigger the quilt the longer it takes. If I supply the backing and batting I charge a little over my cost for the inconvience.
There are at least a half dozen longarmers between my two guilds. They all do a good job and several are outstanding. I recently had one of them quilt a king size top for me that I purchased from a vendor at one of our quilt shows. It was just an over all pattern and she did a wonderful job. It cost me $167.00. I supplied the batting and backing and will do the binding when I get up the energy to wrestle with that monster. The quilt is for my step-daughter's 20th wedding anniversary. She is a nurse-practioner and washes all of her bedding, sheets, blankets, quilts etc. weekly. I knew that a handquilted item would not survive her laundry practices.
I went to Lancaster PA with some other quilting friends this summer. There is a shop there that sells beautiful quilts that are handquilted. A throw size was $5000. The "stitching" was unbelievably fine.

I think it also depends on the ultimate use of the quilt. If it is for a wedding present or something memorable, I gladly pay what the professional quilter charges because I know she will do a fabulous job. If I want to make a utility quilt for my grandkids I will have someone do a meandering stitch or a programable stitch for which another quilter charges less, most of the time under $100 for a twin size quilt. Lately, for economic reasons but also to get more in touch with the tradition of quilting, I have been doing more hand quilting. I piece during the day and when I sit down in the evenings to watch TV, I hand quilt. It's amazing how quick I've gotten and how much I am enjoying it.

First let me say, so impressed with your on line picture, she was a great actress. I have had quilts machine quilted and have been pleased but the cost varries, it comes down to the area that you live in, the size of your quilt. I have paid $30.00 for a table runner that I needed in a hurry! She did a great job. Shop around for prices , ask alot of questions

IMHO, if your intention is to make quilts to sell then you will want to invest in a mid or long arm quilter. Bailey makes a very nice 15" quilter for less than $2,000. A few of the ladies at the local quilting shop say it is quite easy to use, not as fancy as the $10,000 quilter, but not as expensive either. I had mine delivered recently, but haven't had a chance to use it yet.