Congratulations to your wife on finishing her first quilt! I will be learning right with you.

For her next project - hopefully something smaller - search "stitch in a ditch" (SIAD) and cross hatch. These are two beginner-style ways to quilt a project. FMQ - Free motion quilting - is done on a regular sewing machine, but ... in my mind anyway - is harder and takes more practice. Also search on here how to "sandwich" a quilt - that's putting the three layers together. You'll find many ways that people do this. I do it on top of a bed - with a large cutting mat under the project to keep from pinning to the bed. Others use tables (I do that for larger projects, but have a friend help me and we meet at our school where we teach to use the library tables), tape to the floor - many ways will show up. Good luck! It did not seem to me that you were regretting the expense as much as you were making sure she was not "taken". I have had a few quilts done by a long-armer, but have been fortunate to have friends who do this - not as a business - and charge much less. The quality is also less, but it's what I can afford right now. I reserve them for larger projects that I just don't want to wrangle through my machine.

For smaller projects - baby quilts and table runners - I spray baste. There are products for this - 505 spray (or is it 504?) is available at my local quilt shop. I also use a can I get from Walmart's fabric department. It may be a June Taylor product - don't remember.

My question, why isn't your wife posting? Interesting...do you always speak for her? hmmm. Just asking.

the prices sound very reasonable to me too. I quilt by check. I hate the process of "quilting". I am a piecer and I intend to stay that.
sandy

sounds to me without seeing the top that applique would require a custom quilting job..some longarmers will baste your top-batting-and backing together so you can hand quilt it as well.And binding is never included in the quilting price..
Diana
Tranquil Quilting

hahaha!! That's what I say to my husband any time he tries to question one of my quilting purchases! Works everytime!!

Sounds like money well spent...in fact, sounds low, even though it may be an average price.
That quilter has a lot of time and money invested in the service she offers to others. You are paying for her expertise, supplies, machine, and time. Don't think that's too much for handwork on the binding either. I'd be happy about it.

I send my all my large quilt tops out to be quilted. I will quilt anything up to throw size...that is all I have the patience for!! $200.00 is reasonable for a queen sized quilt AND you are supporting a local business person!

Sir, You are obviously not a craftsman. I am a handquilter for hire. I would have charged your wife a minimum of 7 cents a square inch plus the cost of the binding. It would also have taken me at least six weeks of 8 hour days. How much do you get paid for that amount of labor? While I don't have the overhead of the quilting machine I do have the wear and tear on my body and the inconveince of the work taking up a lot of space in my home while I finish the job.

If your wife is interested in doing machine quilting she should start on smaller projects and work her way up.
I simply don't have the patience to machine quilt large bedquilts. After all. I have put a fair amount of money in fabric, batting and backing to ruin it by inexperience. I think your wife made a wise choice. Quilting is not an inexpensive hobby. But I bet your wife has been saving you money for years on other things. Its her time to shine ; )

This sounds like a very reasonable price. To get set up to mid arm quilt-or long arm-will cost many thousands of dollars-so depends on how many quilts she will be making. I have a wonderful mid-arm set up with a Q-bot-but I would like to sell it because I discovered I'd rather piece than quilt! I can have a lot of custom quilting done for what I have invested-live and learn LOL