Cost of Machine Quilting?

Does anyone know roughly how much it costs to send out a quilt (in this case one lap size, 58x68 finished) for machine quilting? I'm REALLY pressed for time this year (aren't we all?! LOL!) and I have a few quilts that will need to be MQed ...

I figure part of the cost depends on the complexity of the quilting desired? I'm hoping to have one quilt meandered and another one with a floral quilting pattern ... so I'm assuming that the floral pattern would cost more.

I feel like a total dumbo askin' this ... but if the price is too high for my budget, I don't want to look stupid at my LQS ... I realize that the cost for MQing will vary by person/shop doing it, but was just curious about a ballpark figure ...

Anyway, thanks in advance!! :) And please pardon my ignorance. I've always hand-quilted and I don't think it's going to work out this year, except for a project or two! :(

-- Hugs!! Connie :-)

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Reply to
SewVeryCreative
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Reply to
nzlstar*

The cost will vary quite a bit, both by the skill of the quilter and by your geographical area. Don't feel bad about asking -- that's one of the first questions EVERYONE asks.

Your biggest limitation will be how late it is. 99% of the quilters out there are booked up for Christmas. Be sure to check the quality of work for whoever has the time to do it. Very often (but not always -- sometimes you luck out) there's a reason they aren't booked up at this time of year.

Have you considered giving a photo of the work in progress and an IOU?

Reply to
Kathy Applebaum

At our store, the cost is .0145 cents per square inch. That's long arm, Statler stitcher, same pattern repeating across the width of the quilt.

And speaking of time, we're currently scheduling quilts for April

2008.

joan

Reply to
joan8904 in Bellevue Nebraska

There is one longarm quilter in my town

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....if you want to send it downunder :-)

I have seen her work and wasn't impressed with her SITD ( it was on a par with mine and that means basic LOL)

But anything with a curve I can not do so hers looked pretty good to me.

I did hear that she has had work sent from o/s to her.

Dee in Oz

Reply to
Dee in Oz

I suspect that you have a misplaced decimal point there and it should be

1.45 cents per square inch ($0.0145). If you really mean .0145 cents, a 100"x100" quilt (10000 square inches) would cost 145 cents or $1.45. If that is your charge, I'm sending all my quilts to you :)

Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

Here's some info on one longarmer in my area. I've never used them -- or any other longarmer -- so I don't know how representative this is.

Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

And here's another one in Minnesota

Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

A quilt that is 100" x 100" is 10,000 square inches and if the quilting charge is .0145 per sq. in., the charge is $145.00, an extremely reasonable rate. My lowest rate is .0175 per square inch. Some quilters charge by the square yard, some by the hour. It is important to ask around to see what the average charges are in your area.

At this time, though, most long arm quilters are booked for Christmas deadlines......

Reply to
Laurie G.

On Nov 20, 5:27 pm, "SewVeryCreative" wrote:

Ooo! Oooo! Don't even get me started. :-(

Seriously though, the rate here (the good machine quilter) is 1.5 cents per square inch for basic, all over pantograph or freehand. It's extra for special borders, etc. Another machine quilter I haven't used also charges 1.5 cents psi, but she tacks on a lot of "extra" charges: $5 for a new needle (thought that one was a little steep)...$5 thread charge. More if you ask for varigated. The Machine Quilter from %##@ (see my previous, lengthy, whining about this)....I honestly don't have a clue how she arrived at the figure she charged me. It was $91 for a 55X65 quilt. At the time I thought that was a really good deal, because I (erroneously) thought she did good work. Also, usually a flower-dy pattern doesn't cost more than stipple, from my experience; as long as it's one of her allover pantograph patterns or groovy boards. If I may inject personal opinion from experience here...be very, very careful; see if you can look at some of her/his work first. Also, in my opinion, nothing, nothing, nothing looks crappier than machine quilted SITD when the quilter screws it up. I got a lot of that on my poor quilt top. My oh my. I"m getting het up all over again just thinking about it. Good luck! Sherry p.s.--I machine quilted my first quilt last week. I was REALLY proud of it, but longarm quilting is much more difficult than I thought it was. It is a real craft, and takes so much skill, and patience just to do the idiot-proof groovy board quilting!! For the freehand, I have even more respect for the people who do that now. That takes talent, too.

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

I would believe that Julia.

Although my comment may have sounded like a criticism it wasn't meant that way.

It was more a case of if I had the money to send a quilt to be quilted I would probably get meandering or stippling done or even feathers not STID

I find SITD hard enough at home. I tend to do cross hatching, then if I don't follow the lines properly it doesn't show up as much.

Dee in Oz

Reply to
Dee in Oz

Connie, I forgot one thing in my post too, that I learned after having a few tops machine quilted. Most quilters (understandably) will charge extra if they have to do anything to your top, like repair it or something. Also, one told me she charged more if the top wasn't squared, because it was more difficult for her. They usually want the backing and batting to extend 4-6" beyond the top. They like it if it's nicely pressed, and brought in on a hanger. (I learned this after bringing quilts in a sack, and they'd be all wrinkled even though I'd pressed them) I got some big hangers from the dry cleaners. If this is TMI, you can just tell me to shut up now :-)

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

Reply to
Ms P

But joan8904 said that it was .0145 _cents_ per square inch, meaning a nice big 100" by 100" quilt get quilted for $1.45 - surely not?

I agree with Julia!

Hanne > 1.45 is a dollar fourty five. The decimal is exactly where it should be

Reply to
Hanne Gottliebsen

When I multiplied 3944 inches (the size quilt I'm looking to have MQed) by .0145 it came out to be $57.88. And when I multiply 100,000 (the measurement for a 100x100 quilt) by .0145 it comes out to $145.00.

I think Joan's aim was to make it easy to figure out using a calculator - which is GREAT since math and I aren't on speaking terms!!

Hugs!! Connie :)

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

100,000 * .0145 cents = 145 cents = 1.45 dollar 100,000 * .0145 dollar (= 100,000 * 1.45 cent) = 145 dollar

(Please accept my apologies if I have butchered the plural of your currency).

The point is, we all need to be careful when switching between cent and dollar.

That's all. I think we all understand what the intention was, typo or not :-)

Hanne in London

Reply to
Hanne Gottliebsen

I can see how SITD would be hard to do...esp. with the seam allowances being on diff sides of seams all over the quilt. I heard a LA quilter on tv say to SITD on the area w/o a seam . I really don't know how you do that all over a quilt but she said it was to avoid any wavy lines. I did notice on one LA quilter's work something that I later found out were "eyelashes"...stitching that apparently were made by going too fast around a corner and did look like eyelashes. I wasn't quite sure why she hadn't corrected that and I wouldn't have liked having to pay for mistakes like that even though I don't make things for shows.

WHAT???...she didn't charge you for the oil used in the machine???? Wear and tear on her shoes as she walked back and forth???? : ) I do think charging for a needle is too much. Mary

Reply to
MB

Howdy!

Y'all have some "creative, new math" going on, huh?

Got a calculator?

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100x100 = 10,000 x.0145 = 145. That's $145 for the machine quilting.

(6th-grade teacher had us doing mental arithmetic relays; this is easy if you count the 0s)

$145 for quilt> But joan8904 said that it was .0145 _cents_ per square inch, meaning a

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

Sandy,

I agree with you, provided joan9804 meant .0145 _dollars_ per square inch. She did write .0145 _cents_ per square inch.

It has nothing to do with where the comma is, but rather using "cents" instead of "dollars" (incidentally, this can be dealt with by moving the comma, but we all know that).

10,000 sq inches * .0145 cents per square inch = 145 cents.

Same for dollars.

Hanne in London

Sandy Ellis> Howdy!

Reply to
Hanne Gottliebsen

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