Yes a few longarmers charge by the hour. They guesstimate the amount of time and therefore the amount of money the quilt will cost. Most charge by the inch, which is what I do.

Quilting charges vary widely based on many factors including the region, the type, density and difficulty of the quilting designs, and the skills, talents, or fame of the quilter.

Thank you all for the sharing your knowledge and opinions. My hubby is working on his thesis for a Master's Degree and this is research he asked me to do. He is setting me up in a pretend LAQ business.

This pretend business may one day become reality because I have recently ordered the Handi Quilter Avante. It will deliver next week and I can't wait! I hope I get the hang of it quickly --- I can be so impatient.

Thanks again --- keep your opinions coming!

I've been renting Gammill Long Arms for 5 years. We started with 1 and within a year I bought a 2nd. We currently have 3 hand guided machines and 2 Statler Stitchers. Rental and classes are working well for us! We also quilt for people and charge by the inch as you described. I do find that some of my customers that rent "speed quilt" to save money as we charge $20.00 per hour. I would like to see them slow down to improve their work, not to add to my profit. But I haven't tried a different rental rate yet.....but food for thought!

I just visited your website and read your story about how you got started in your business. Very impressive! Congratulations and I hope you continue to grow and live your dream!

Giving flat rate rather than by the hour benifits both pro and customer. The customer knows exactly how much its going to cost ahead of time. The Pro does not have to Justify the price , it is what it is. I can see if its hourly the customer would never really know .. "did I really get what I paid for?". On the other hand LA quilters can end up spending lots of time with a poorly constructed or prepared for quilting quilt top , that they had not anticipated. Many will call the person prior to starting the quilting to discuss the condition ( delicately) and explain why extra effort and charges are in order.
I send out many tops and doubt I would ever feel completely comfortable in a hourly unless there was a "not to exceed" dollar amount in the contract. Having said that I did have such a agreement and ...well it was exaclty the top do not exceed $$ and the quilting was less than what I expected for that price. It was a very generous amount and I had expectations of it being "competition" worthy when done. It was not.
My best experiences have been with LA'ers here on this board . I have seen their work which is consistant in what I look for in design and technical , I trust they will have a vision , and I let them do what they do best. Consitantly both of them , have given me a good indication of what they have in mind for the quilt top , and yes I am always pleased that they exceed my expectations.
In the end if you are looking for LA services , find one that you want to have a long realtionship with because you have confidence in their work and the way the run their business.
If you are thinking of starting a business learn from the best practices of those LA professional whom you respect.
People who use LA services go back again and again to the person they trust. And the old saying in business for every lost customer .. it takes 10 new one to replace them.

If you are interested in real start up costs, PM me.

There's a lot more to buy besides the machine, and it all costs good money, and almost all of it needs to be ordered on the web and delivered to you. Shipping charges are a big "invisible" business expense these days.

This is very generous of you, and of course, I will send a PM. Thanks!

My local LA charges by the quilt. The last queen size she quilted for me was $70. She does beautiful work but only does stippling, meandering and swirls. If I make a quilt that is very special, I like to have it custom quilted.

I am a longarmer. I charge by the sq. inch according to the denseness of the design. I stock 2 battings and charge per sq foot for those. I try not to nickel and dime my customers by adding a lot of extra charges...pressing, re-pinning for borders, etc. If I see that there will be extra work, I just add a little into the charge per sq foot. I only have one Gammill and would NOT even consider renting it! I have been in business for over 5 years and love what I do.

You will love youe Avante--love mine. The larger size from the HQ16 is amazing.