The typical per-square-inch formula doesn't accurately reflect the commitment of time, effort and artistic vision involved in custom quilting, so I charge by the hour for whatever level of quilting I do. You're paying for 17 years' experience, time, and attention to detail.

​

I give price estimates, not quotes.

​

Current fees include: $30 an hour for quilting, making and sewing on binding, correcting wavy borders, etc. 

Batting: $10-$15 per yard. If you want to provide your own batt, please let me weigh in on the choice beforehand. Thread charges vary -- there are so many kinds now. Sales tax is 8.25% for Texas clients. The client will pay for shipping, specific to the quilt and carrier. I typically take a deposit of about half the estimate (cash, check or charge) upon receipt of the quilt top and backing.

​

I do freehand overall quilting, where appropriate, but not pantographs. See the string-pieced quilt in the first photo below. Freehand means I don't use a pattern, but make it up as I go along. 

​

Part-custom, part-overall quilting combines an overall design over most of the quilt with a few custom touches in blocks or borders, for example, a loop meander on the patriotic star quilt below.

 

Custom quilting can be simple -- block, sashing and border designs but no background quilting, as in the pink baby quilt below -- or ornate, and the longer it takes to do, the greater the cost. Samplers, photo 4 for example, always take more time because each different block is its own little quilt. A large bed quilt can cost $400 to $1,200 and more. Send me a photo of your quilt, along with some idea of what quilting you want, and then I can estimate a price.

 

At the upper end of the spectrum are show quilts and wholecloth quilts. Well out of the utilitarian range of bed quilts and throws, they are art for art's sake. Exquisite applique with plain open backgrounds, like the lilac floral below, invites ambitious quilting. Depending on the size and complexity, show quilts can cost hundreds or thousands. Wholecloth quilts, whether small and simple or large and pictorial, require planning, marking and trapunto. The nature scene below is a detail of a large commissioned wholecloth that appraised for $5,000.