How much to charge for a custom quilt
Twenty hours at $25 is $500 of labour before a single fat quarter is bought, and a price guessed from the size of the quilt rarely covers it. Type in materials, hours, the hourly rate you want and any quilting fee. You get a floor price, a recommended quote at 1.2 times the floor, and the floor as cents per square inch, with the working shown underneath. The price comes from your own figures and the page runs in your browser.
Defaults on this page, simple complexity: 60 by 72 inches, $80 materials, 20 hours at $25, quilting fee $0. Floor is $580, which is about 13.43 cents per square inch. Recommended (floor times 1.2) is $696.
- Shows the math
Your quilt and your rate
Fabric, batting, thread, backing. Hint: use the yardage calculator then multiply by shop prices.
What you want to earn for your time on this job.
Pass-through or your own quilting charge. Leave 0 if labour hours already include it.
Multiplies labour only, not materials or the quilting fee line.
materials — labour — quilting fee —
- Floor price
- —
- Recommended (floor × 1.2)
- —
- Floor as ¢/sq in
- —
Quote from
Floor = materials + labour (× complexity) + quilting fee. Recommended = floor × 1.2. Cents per square inch is the floor ÷ quilt area, which helps when a client compares your price with longarm rates.
How to use the number
- Fill materials from receipts (or yardage × shop price).
- Count every hour, including pressing, piecing and the emails that usually go unrecorded.
- Use the floor as the line you will not go under; quote the recommended figure unless you have a reason to discount.
- Put the agreed number, deposit and scope into a written quote before you cut fabric.
Questions
Is this what other quilters charge?
No. It works only from the materials, hours and hourly goal you type in. It has no data on what quilts sell for, locally or anywhere else, so what your area will pay is a separate judgement you make.
What does the complexity multiplier do?
It only scales labour (hours × rate), not materials or a separate quilting fee. Simple = ×1, pieced = ×1.25, custom art = ×1.5. Use it when the design takes more care than a straight hour count captures, or leave it on simple and raise the hours instead.
What is the recommended price?
Floor × 1.2. The floor is materials + adjusted labour + optional quilting fee, which is break-even on the inputs you gave. The recommended figure is a modest buffer for slow weeks, revisions and the email time nobody bills.
Where do materials costs come from?
Your receipts, or run the yardage calculator on this site and multiply yards by what your shop charges. This planner does not price fabric for you.
What about deposit and scope?
This calculator only does the number. The paperwork (deposit percent, revisions, who buys batting, when the balance is due) is what the commission quote kit on this site covers.
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