Longarm quilter wanted MN
 

Hi Everyone,
I am a new quilter and have only been quilting about 6 months. I love it though and am hooked for life! I am having a problem though. I started out doing my own straight line quilting with a walking foot. That was fine until my projects got bigger! The last thing I quilted with that technique was a full size quilt, and it was a struggle to manage! I have such bad arthritis in my neck and shoulders that trying to manage that quilt well enough to do a nice job quilting it that I really caused myself some pain. So it’s time to hire out my quilting needs to someone with better equipment than I have. The trouble is, I don’t have a clue how to find a longarm quilter in my area? Where do these people advertise their services? And any advice on how to evaluate their pricing? I am grateful for any and all advice!

Im in the Mpls, MN area.

thanks!
Leanne

Depending on your perspective, long-arm quilting is often more expensive than people expect, but a lot depends on your part of the country.

I am limited myself on what/how I can quilt down, and it is a combination of physical ability plus space plus design plus skill too that has me currently displeased with my results. In the last month I've done a lot to improve my quilting situation -- and then my machine decided that it needed a shop visit!

One of the first places to go is your LQS -- local quilt store. Ask, look for a bulletin board. Likewise, if you have something like Craig's List or Next Door, or a local news outlet that serves the community, just do a search on quilting (under services or arts and crafts, you'll be surprised what else out there is quilted), or long arm quilting. There will be many options in the greater Minneapolis area!

Some sites are much better about understanding the prices and what is included. In my area, it's just the work mostly, thread, batting, all that other stuff extra. In other areas I guess you can get the top bound for you for a nominal charge, here it is more than cheap little me is willing to do.

You can have anything done from your quilts being basted together for easier hand quilting, to computerized or free hand "edge to edge" designs. To having directional borders requiring the quilt to be turned. Semi-custom. Full custom. All I can say is prices vary greatly.

If you do a google search for long arm quilting services in minnesota you should get some listings. I am up in northern minnesota so am unfamiliar with the folks in the metro area. Also, you could try contacting some of the quilt shops and/or quilt guilds in your area as they often will be able to connect you with someone who does longarming if they do not do it themselves. Some do only custom work which can be pricey, some only do computerized quilting which can be an over-all design which is probably the most reasonable, some do a combination of both. Wish I could be of more help.

Thanks to you both for your helpful posts!

Can I just be blunt and ask a direct question? I’m sure most everyone is familiar with Missouri Star Quilt Company and the quilting services they offer if customers ship their quilt in. Are the prices they charge ballpark in line with what I would expect to be charged for a similar service by a local artisan? It’s the only real price I have so far for comparison purposes. Quilting is an expensive hobby and I need to be price conscious. I just about fainted the first time I priced out quilting on their site. Now though after struggling to quilt some larger projects their quilting prices seem like a bargain. :)

So a quick look shows the 3.5/square inch price which for them includes the batting. There are additional services for reasonable prices. I think with the turnaround etc.and the security of dealing with them in particular, it all sounds pretty reasonable. But add shipping costs!

I have ok skills and have been working on improving my equipment to do this level of quilting, but a queen sized quilt still takes its toll on me physically. I was just about to start quilting down a project this weekend but my machine decided it would rather go to the shop. I had access to a friend's long arm for a number of years and got spoiled, I have the skills to do what I want on a long arm -- which still has quite a bit of physicality, it's just different. You might look at renting long arms as an option that brings down the cost because you are providing the labor, but they are providing the machine.

When I price out my tops for what I want done, here in the Seattle area, it would be about $350-500.

There's always the opportunity to thoroughly learn and practice QAYG (Quilt As You Go). Then, you can bask in the gratification of having produced the quilt entirely on your own (at greatly reduced expense). It's not that hard and actually, quite enjoyable to put your own design on your quilt a block at a time.

Tap into the many instructional videos as well, reference Pinterest and other quilting sources. There are so very many and a good bit are free with accompanying patterns, etc.

Good Luck to you and enjoy the process.

Check with the local quilt shops in your area. Most of the shops around here have quilting services in the stores. I recently have sent some of my quilts for long-arming after doing my own free motion quilting for the last 10 years. It has just gotten to be too much for me to wrestle the larger quilts. I, too, have wanted to finish my quilts completely but discovered I really don't mind quilting by check and actually like how they turned out. I can still do lap-size or smaller. I considered buying a long or mid arm machine but then figured I can pay to have a lot of quilts quilted for the price of a new machine.
The shop I use does not do custom quilting, just an all over design. The price is reasonable and they did nice work.

I got a used APQS Lucey...which is a basic 26 inch long arm with no computer. I figure I have to do about 60-65 quilts on it to pay for it, I have done 55 I think. But you also have to have the room for it and a stock of thread colors which I mostly have to order as local quilt shops often do not care the cones. I do recommend if people are considering getting a longarm to take a class first at a local shop if they offer one. Some shops do rent out their machines, but honestly, I think it is real comparable to just have them quilt it rather than paying by the hour to rent. But I think renting out time on one would let you know if you actually wanted your own long arm. Oh, and they really do take up a lot of room, the only place I had for mine was in a unfinished basement.

I think long armers will often charge per square inch. I have not sent one out, but I htink 1-3 cents per square inch is average? someone may correct me, and if so, listen to them, not me! depends on if its edge to edge or custom quilting, of course

I now quilt on my longarm, but before that I did a number of large quilts on my DSM by quilting in sections. I bought this book, Machine Quilting in Sections, by Marti Michell. She explains a number of different ways to break your quilt top into sections that are much more easily quilted on a DSM.