“ Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”
--Albert Einstein
Why hire a longarm quilter?
There are a lot of advantages to having your quilt professionally longarm quilted:
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No need to crawl around on the floor basting your quilt! Hiring a longarmer lets you completely avoid this strenuous and tedious part of quilting.
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We all have a lot of demands on our time and quilting is time-consuming. The expense of having a quilt professionally quilted is a great trade-off for getting some hours of your life back.
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Machine quilting is strenuous and large quilts, in particular, are tough to quilt on a domestic machine. Longarm quilters can take away all that hand, arm, shoulder and neck fatigue and pain.
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Longarm quilters are quite accessible giving you lots of choices for finding the perfect quilting for your quilts.
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There are quite a few longarmers out there keeping the competition up and the prices reasonable.
Choosing a longarm quilter
Choose your longarm quilter carefully. After all the work you have put into your quilt top you want quilting that will enhance its beauty and complement it perfectly.
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ask friends and family for recommendations.
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browse through portfolios of longarm quilters.
Pricing
Pricing is based on the complexity of the design and the density of the quilting within the category that applies to your quilt:
Minimum charge: $60
Freehand edge to edge - $.02/square inch and up
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For all-over texture
Edge to edge with separate border(s) - $.25/square inch and up
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Edge to edge in centre PLUS each border (or sashing) is quilted with a border design
Custom quilting (without stitch-in-ditch)- $.03/square inch and up
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As above PLUS a custom block design is quilted in the quilt blocks
Custom quilting that includes stitch-in-ditch - $.04/square inch and up
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As above PLUS ditch quilting around blocks and between borders
Heirloom quilting and custom thread painting - $.05/square inch and up
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Small scale background designs, designs that require marking or free-motion thread painting added to stitch-in-ditch custom quilting
Other services/fees
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Square backing - $25/hr
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Small backing charge - $15-25
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Piece and square backing - $10/seam
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Rush charge - $40
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Pressing top or back - $25/hr
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Variegated or other specialty thread charges - $5-30