Buyer's Guide
How Much Does It Cost to Make a Quilt? (And What to Charge for a Custom One)
Two questions get asked at every guild meeting by someone new: "how much will this cost me to make?" and, a year later, "my cousin wants one — what do I charge?" The honest answers are further apart than most people expect. Materials are a couple hundred dollars. A finished custom quilt, priced fairly, is a four-figure object. Here is the math for both.
The short answer:
Materials for a lap quilt made from quilt-shop cotton run about $120–$250: top fabric $60–$120 (at $12–$15 a yard), backing $40–$70, batting $20–$40, thread and binding $10–$20. A queen runs $250–$500. Add $100–$400 for longarm quilting if you send it out. A commissioned custom quilt is priced at materials + labor (20–60 hours at $15–$30 an hour) + quilting, which is why real custom quilts cost $500–$2,000+ and why "can you make me one for $100?" is the running joke of every guild in America.
1. Materials cost by quilt size
Typical US ranges for a pieced quilt in quilt-shop cotton at $12–$15 a yard, with wide backing where it makes sense and a mid-grade cotton or cotton-poly batting. Top yardage is the honest number, not the geometric minimum: small pieces eat fabric in seam allowances, and almost everyone buys a little extra.
| Size | Finished | Top yardage | Top | Backing | Batting | Thread + binding | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby | 36×48" | 2–3 yd | $25–$45 | $18–$25 | $12–$20 | $8–$12 | $60–$100 |
| Lap | 50×60" | 4–8 yd | $60–$120 | $40–$70 | $20–$40 | $10–$20 | $130–$250 |
| Twin | 70×90" | 7–10 yd | $85–$150 | $50–$90 | $30–$50 | $15–$25 | $180–$320 |
| Queen | 90×100" | 10–14 yd | $120–$210 | $60–$120 | $40–$70 | $20–$35 | $250–$500 |
| King | 108×108" | 14–18 yd | $170–$270 | $70–$140 | $50–$90 | $25–$40 | $320–$600 |
Backing is the line that surprises people. A queen needs about 8 yards of 42"-wide fabric pieced together, or 3 yards of 108" wide-back. Wide-backs cost more per yard ($16–$22) but almost always come out cheaper per quilt, with no seam to wrestle.
None of this includes quilting. On your own domestic machine, the cost is thread and time. At a longarmer, add $60–$180 for a lap quilt and $180–$540 for a queen at edge-to-edge rates, more for custom work; the longarm quilting cost guide has the per-square-inch breakdown.
2. Where the money goes: fabric quality tiers
Fabric is 60–70% of the material cost, and price per yard varies more than any other line. Three tiers cover almost everything a quilter buys:
- Big-box cotton, $6–$9 a yard. Lighter weight, lower thread count, more sizing, prints often slightly off-grain. Fine for practice, kids' quilts, and charity tops. It shrinks and pills more, and colors fade faster.
- Quilt-shop cotton, $12–$16 a yard. The standard from the major converters (Moda, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake, Andover, and the rest). Consistent weight, tighter weave, better dye. This is what the table assumes, and what most finished quilts you admire are made of.
- Designer and specialty, $20 a yard and up. Liberty Tana Lawn, Japanese imports, organics, shot cottons, limited designer collections. Beautiful, but a queen top can double in cost. Most quilters use these as accents.
The gap between big-box and quilt-shop cotton is about $40 on a lap quilt. The gap in how the quilt looks and washes after five years is much bigger. If the quilt is meant to last, the middle tier is the sweet spot. Local quilt shop vs. online fabric covers where each tier is best bought, and the fabric brands guide covers who makes what.
3. Ways to cut cost without cutting quality
- Precuts. A jelly roll (40 strips, 2½" × width of fabric) or layer cake (42 ten-inch squares) is roughly 2¾ yards of coordinated fabric for $35–$55, with almost no waste. A $10–$14 charm pack (5" squares) makes a baby quilt with one border.
- Sales and end-of-bolt. Shops mark down collections when the next season arrives and sell end-of-bolt remnants at 30–50% off. Backing and borders are where the sale rack shines; nobody notices the print is last year's.
- Shop your stash. Every quilter past year two owns more fabric than they will use. A scrappy quilt from what you already have costs batting and thread, full stop.
- Scrappy by design. A pattern that wants 40 fabrics instead of 6 lets you use fat quarters and leftovers, and hides mistakes better.
- Guild swaps and destashes. Most guilds run a yearly swap or member destash where quilt-shop cotton goes for $3–$6 a yard. See how to find a quilt guild near you.
- Wide-backs and batting by the roll. 108" backing is cheaper per quilt than piecing 42" yardage; a batting roll split among friends is roughly half the per-package price.
What not to skimp on: thread and batting. Cheap thread breaks and lints up a machine; a cheap poly batting bearding through the top is why some older quilts feel stiff and look fuzzy. The savings there are $10, and you will see the difference for decades.
4. The labor reality: hours by skill and method
Materials are the small number. Time is the big one, and most people underestimate it by half. Typical hours for a lap quilt, start to finish (cutting, piecing, pressing, basting or loading, quilting, binding):
| Skill level | Simple (large squares, strips) | Moderate (stars, half-square triangles) | Complex (paper piecing, appliqué, curves) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner (first 3 quilts) | 25–40 hours | 40–60 hours | Not yet |
| Intermediate | 12–20 hours | 20–35 hours | 40–80 hours |
| Experienced | 8–15 hours | 15–25 hours | 30–60+ hours |
A queen is not twice a lap quilt; it is closer to three times, because the blocks multiply and everything gets heavier to handle. An experienced quilter piecing a moderate queen top is at 25–40 hours before quilting.
Method changes the total a lot. Sending the top out costs money but saves 8–20 hours of wrestling a queen through a domestic machine. Hand quilting is the other extreme: 100–300 hours for a queen, which is why hand-quilted heirlooms are priced the way they are. Machine binding takes an hour; hand-finished binding takes three to five.
5. How to price a custom quilt (two worked examples)
The formula almost every working quiltmaker settles on: Price = materials × 1.15 + (hours × hourly rate) + quilting + overhead.
- Materials × 1.15. The 15% covers shopping time, shipping, waste, and the yard you cut wrong. Charge retail for fabric even if it came from your stash; you will replace it.
- Hourly rate. $15 is the floor anyone should accept; $20–$30 is where experienced makers land; appliqué and paper-piecing specialists charge more. Track hours on your first commissions. Almost everyone finds they are working for less than they thought.
- Quilting. Your longarmer's invoice passed through, or the going local rate if you quilt it yourself. Do not give this away because you own the machine. Browse longarmers for a quote.
- Overhead. Pattern, needles, blades, machine service, electricity. $20–$50 per quilt is fair.
Example 1: a 20-shirt T-shirt memory quilt, about 60×80"
- Materials: interfacing for 20 shirts $30, sashing and border fabric $40, backing $55, batting $35, thread and binding $15 = $175. × 1.15 = $201.
- Labor: cutting and stabilizing shirts 4 hours, layout and piecing 8 hours, prep and binding 3 hours = 15 hours × $20 = $300.
- Quilting: edge-to-edge at a longarmer, 4,800 sq in × $0.035 = $168. Overhead $30.
- Total: about $700. Quote $650–$750 depending on your rate and the longarmer's minimum.
Example 2: a queen heirloom, moderate piecing, custom quilting
- Materials: quilt-shop cotton top, wide-back, cotton batting, binding = $420. × 1.15 = $483.
- Labor: 40 hours of piecing, pressing, and binding × $25 = $1,000.
- Quilting: full custom longarm work at $0.12 per sq in on 9,000 sq in = $1,080 (edge-to-edge instead would be about $315). Overhead $40.
- Total: about $2,600 with custom quilting, about $1,850 with edge-to-edge.
That second number is the one that ends conversations with people who expected $200. It is also the correct number. A queen with 40 hours of skilled work in it is a piece of furniture, and it should be priced like one.
Get a real quilting quote before you price
The quilting line is the easiest one to get wrong. QuiltMap lists 498 longarm quilters across the US as of September 2026, by state, with phone, website, and reviews where available. Most will quote from a size and a style within a day or two.
Browse longarmers by state →6. What the market actually pays
The formula says what a quilt is worth. The market says what people will pay, and the two do not always agree. Typical asking prices in 2026, hedged because every listing differs:
- Etsy and online handmade shops. Lap quilts commonly list at $200–$500 and queens at $500–$1,500. The low end is simple piecing with edge-to-edge quilting; the top end is custom-quilted or heavily pieced. Plenty of listings sit below cost, from sellers who have not done the math in section 5, and they rarely last a year.
- Local commissions. Word-of-mouth through a guild or shop typically runs $300–$800 for a lap and $800–$2,000 for a queen. Local buyers pay more because they can see the maker's work and are usually buying for an occasion.
- T-shirt quilt specialists. Mail-in national services price by shirt count, roughly $150–$500 for 12–30 shirts, often with fleece backing and no batting to hit that price. A true three-layer T-shirt quilt with quilt-shop sashing and longarm quilting competes at $500–$900, and you should say plainly why.
- Baby quilts. $100–$250, and the hardest size to price fairly because the labor is not much less than a lap quilt.
If your formula price is above what the local market pays, you have three honest choices: simplify the design so the hours drop, raise your visible skill so buyers see why you cost more, or decline the job. Quietly eating the difference is how most quilters end up resenting a hobby they love.
7. How to write a commission agreement
One page, plain language, both of you sign it. Every quilter who skipped this step has a story about a quilt that sat unpaid for in a closet. Cover:
- Deposit. 50% up front, non-refundable once fabric is cut. It covers materials and makes the buyer committed. Balance due before the quilt leaves your house.
- Timeline. A finish date with a cushion. If the quilt goes to a longarmer, say so and build in their 4–8 week turnaround. Rush jobs cost 25–50% more, in writing.
- Fabric approval. Photograph the fabric pull and get a yes by text or email before cutting. After the yes, changes are a new quote.
- Size and design. Finished dimensions, pattern or sketch, quilting style, binding method. Vague agreements become "I thought it would be bigger."
- Buyer-supplied materials. If they hand you 30 T-shirts or a grandmother's dresses, note the condition and state that you are not responsible for pre-existing damage or shrinkage.
- Cancellation. Before cutting: deposit refunded minus fabric already bought. After cutting: deposit kept, you keep the unfinished work. This is the clause people push back on and the one you need most.
Photograph every stage. If a dispute happens, the photos settle it, and they make the best social media you will ever post.
8. The emotional part: saying no and friends-and-family pricing
The hardest commission is from a person you like. A coworker sees a quilt on your desk, says "I'd pay you for one of those," and means $100. When you say $600 there is a pause, and the friendship is awkward for a week. Approaches that work:
- Lead with the materials number. "Fabric and batting alone are about $200 before I touch it" resets expectations without anyone feeling insulted.
- Offer the smaller yes. A machine-quilted charm-pack baby quilt at $150 is something you can agree to. A queen at $600 is a different request.
- Family gets gifts, not discounts. Make it as a gift on your own timeline, or charge full price. The middle ground, where you charge $150 and spend 40 hours, produces a quilt you resent and a relative who thinks quilts cost $150.
- "I don't take commissions" is a complete sentence. Many excellent quilters never sell a quilt. Quilting for money changes the hobby, and it is fine to decide you do not want that.
The one thing to avoid is quietly underpricing. It tells every other quilter's customer that $150 is what a quilt costs. If the number the math gives you is not comfortable to say out loud, that is a sign to keep the quilt a gift.
FAQ
Is it cheaper to make a quilt or buy one?
A mass-produced store quilt at $50–$150 is cheaper than making one. A handmade quilt from a maker at $300–$2,000 usually costs more than the materials for your own ($130–$250 for a lap quilt in quilt-shop cotton). Count your time, though, and buying from a maker is the better deal by a wide margin; that is exactly why handmade quilts cost what they do.
How much does a first quilt cost for a beginner?
Materials for a simple lap quilt run $100–$200. Tools are the bigger first-time spend: rotary cutter, mat, ruler, and a walking foot are $80–$150, and an entry-level machine is $250–$500 if you do not own one. See how to start quilting as a beginner.
What should I charge per hour for quilting?
$15 an hour is the minimum that makes sense; $20–$30 is typical for experienced makers. Some quilters instead price the whole finished quilt by the square inch ($0.15–$0.35 for simple piecing plus quilting), which lands in the same place for average work but underpays complex piecing.
How much does a T-shirt quilt cost?
From a mail-in service, roughly $150–$500 depending on shirt count and construction. From an independent quilter making a batted, longarm-quilted quilt with quilt-shop sashing, $500–$900 for 16–30 shirts. Section 5 shows how the higher number is built.
Where do I buy fabric at a fair price?
Your local quilt shop for the top and for advice, sale racks and wide-backs for backing, guild swaps for everything else. QuiltMap lists more than 7,000 US quilt shops as of September 2026 — browse shops by state.
Related guides
- Longarm Quilting Cost: A 2026 Buyer's Guide — the quilting line of the formula, by style and size.
- Quilting Fabric Brands: A Guide to Who Makes What — which houses make the $12–$16 quilt-shop cotton this guide assumes.
- Local Quilt Shop vs. Online Fabric — where each tier of fabric is best bought.
- How to Market a Quilt Shop in 2026 — for the shop owners whose customers ask these questions at the counter.
Last updated 2026-09-17. Sold a quilt recently? Size, hours, and what you charged is the data every other quilter wants — share it in the community.