Quilt it myself or hire it done?
 

I have a short arm setup with the PCQuilter computer program to stitch my designs. I like it, but my Grace frame is not great and I'm thinking of replacing it. However, I've only been doing about one quilt a year. Maybe it would be wiser to just send out my quilt tops, get rid of the frame and regain the space in my spare room. How much would it cost to have my tops quilted with just an overall meander design? And where do I find a reputable quilter?

I have a similar set up to what you have with a mid arm on a Grace frame. I am quite frustrated with my frame right now as it too seems to be failing for some reason and is ready to be replace with both a new frame but also a machine. (in my dreams). I too am thinking about sending out my quilts to a LA quilter for quilting and would love to get an idea of cost for twin, full, queen and king size quilts with me providing bat an backing or without me providing the bat and backing. or how much per inch. I would also like to know about renting a machine to do the work myself and how that works. I have looked at some sites and some sound way to high. Thoughts on the cost would be great so I can figure out things.

It's a decision to make. I make enough tops that I could easily use a quilting system of some sort. I didn't have access to computer driven options and I've found that machine quilting is a physical activity for me. Requires coordination and movement and muscles I don't otherwise use and that my skills deteriorate rapidly after about 2 months I need to do a practice project or two before I do something "serious". I would not be happy with my finished product if I only did one year but that's my experience.

So prices vary across the country. I think the lows are going to be around $100-120 on the low end and $200+ on the high end for the edge to edge. But that mostly just includes the quilting, not the batting or backing or any trimming or binding. Some places your money goes a lot further than others!

For me, there are some tops for donation and others that don't require much work. But I'd say what I want is probably more custom and would cost around $350-500, and some of that is for artistic creativity for the quilter that I don't have myself. Designing the quilting is usually my downfall. Keeping in mind that minimum wage in Seattle is $15 and that's what I put my quilting time at, I actually thing that is pretty reasonable -- except my budget says no way when I'm churning out a quilt a month or so. But once a year, that seems much more reasonable.

When people are looking at buying a quilting system, I tell them you really need to look at how big they are and that they don't just get put up and down. And then most of us have to look at the cost, especially when compared to how many quilts do you do per year. You can get a whole lot of quilts done very nicely indeed for $10k!!

Edit: Shop rates out here for rentals usually require you take a class for about $100 to learn how to load and use the machine/frame. Then it's about $100 a day for use, when I'm in good health and my quilts are smallish/easy designs, it can be easy to do a queen sized in the one session. Other days I don't move so fast. Other people can do two twins faster than I can do one too.

I tried once last year, this year I really need to try again. I'm going to post on Craig's List looking to rent time on a home set-up. I'd rather have 2 days a month (or more of course!) available for that $100. I would also be supplying everything else on my own, needles, thread, bobbins, batting. I know there are people out there with set-ups that are largely gathering dust for one reason or another, but I also know I'm asking to be let in to their homes and playing with something worth more than most of the cars I've owned.

I had a midarm set-up at first and then I replaced it with a demo APQS Lucey on a 12 foot frame.....I have had it about 8 years....and I have done 53 quilts on it....when I bought it....they said I would have paid for it after about 60 quilts....so I have just about paid for it by doing my own quilting....advantages of having your own machine....no waiting for quilt to get down outside your control I do mainly overall designs as I make mainly bed quilts....I have done a bit of ruler work but don't really like doing it. I don't have a computer...but do have a stitch regulator and it is really easy to move and the frame is easy to use and the neck is 26 inches so I have lots of room...usually end up advance the quilt only 4 times maybe five if it is a really big one. We have a local quilt shop were you can rent time after taking a class. It is 30 dollars per hour and if you don't finish in your time slot...you need to take the quilt off and load it again later. I find it takes me about 3-4 hours to do a over-all pattern so it would cost me $90 to $120 plus I don't know what the charge is for the time it takes you to load and unload the quilt...that would add another hour or so depending....I recently paid to have a 72 by 72 quilt custom quilted and it would have been $800 but she gave me a discount because of prior business

You can check with your local quilt guild. They will have a list of longarmers in your area.

Last time I checked, which was a while back, about 1.5 to 2 cents per square inch was fairly standard for light pantograms, edge to edge. The price goes up for custom quilting.

I bought my longarm only a few years after I started quilting, because I wanted to finish my quilts myself and was tired of either quilting in sections or stuffing 8 miles of quilt through a tiny throat. I had the money and the space and was making 10 or more quilts a year. Even after the expense of having my machine upgraded a couple of years ago, I do think it has paid for itself. I think without it I would probably have a large inventory of unquilted tops.

However, if you are making only one quilt a year, and your current longarm setup isn't working, it makes more financial sense to have someone else do the quilting.

I have a terrible time visualizing the "per square inch" model. At one point I did have a really nice link to a long armer and samples of what the per inch cost was next to what that translated into rough sizes. I've lost it and probably not appropriate to post here even if I did.

Anyway, this might be good for some of us:
https://www.apqs.com/pricing-your-lo...re-inch-model/

Maybe someone has a good chart to give us some rough idea or at least some of the right terms to use with the long arm artist.

If you're willing to ship your tops to be quilted, you could send them to Missouri Star quilt Company. You can go on their site and enter quilt size, thread color, quilting design, etc. to determine the cost. I sent mine there before I bought my longarm. The turn-around time was fast and price reasonable.

For about 10 yrs, I quilted by check and was very happy. Prices have definitely changed since 20 yrs ago. As my personal style developed in the piecing, the quilting needed to reflect my style. So I started quilting my own. Also, the size of my quilts shrunk considerably when doing art quilts. DH helped me buy a LA about 20 yrs ago. I thought I'd have a small business. Discovered I'm not in love with the quilting. However I do use it for myself and comfort quilts.

There is definitely a learning curve. It takes me at least 1/mo to stay proficient.

In the last 10 yrs, my shoulders have had 3 surgeries, rt hand surgery and the lt needs surgery. Unless the quilt is pretty small, it's hard to handle it on a domestic machine which has an 11 inch harp. Because of the space a LA requires, I've thought of a sit down LA but that wouldn't solve my body issues.

Space: My LA has 12' table + 4' clearance on one end. And width is 4' + minimum of 2' clearance on both sides. So that's a space of 16 x 8' minimum. The room it's in is 18 x 10' so there's storage and a work space. The room has double wide doors so it can be rolled into the garage and the room becomes a guest room.

I've thought of buying a new LA with robotics and only 10' table (that size would do for 99.9%). Cost????? Can't justify it. If anyone is interested in selling a good quality set up, PM me. I live in central California (8hrs to Mexico, 10 hrs to Oregon, 4 hrs to the Pacific and 3-8hrs to Nevada-the shortest route is closed Nov-June.

I do rent out my machine, give directions, help load the quilt and stay in the room for assistance. It was $50/day but now I think it should be $100/day. I think I'll make up new flyers and get a web-site up and running.

In the DFW area, the going price of machine quilting (panto or meander) is two cents per square inch. Some charge extra for thread, some don't. You provide the batting.
In this area, many quilt shops do quilting and that's the price I'm using. I find them reliable, and the quality is excellent.

Also, some quilt shops rent time on their machines. I've not done that, but I know you have to take a class before you do use the machine. I think it was about $175. for the class at the closest shop.

Maybe that will help you decide if it's worth it to invest in your own machine.

bkay