The Cost of Making a Quilt Can't Really Be Measured
Posted by Jen Lopez on Oct 16th 2019
All kidding aside, how much would it REALLY cost Quilt Girl to make that wedding quilt? Let’s take a look. First off, let’s assume she is making a queen sized quilt. A queen sized mattress is 60” x 80” and for a comforter sized quilt, she would need to add a 12” drop on 3 sides, for a total quilt size of 84” x 92”. With quilting cottons easily creeping up to $12 per yard for good quality quilting cottons, her expenses would be as follows:
Quilt Top – The amount of fabric she would need for the quilt top is highly variable, depending on her chosen design. For example, let’s consider my all-time favorite quilt design, Eleanor Burn’s Quilt in a Day log cabin quilt. Eleanor is known for her efficient use of fabric so hers is a good conservative metric. This quilt requires a total of 10 yards of various fabrics to make the top. $120
Backing – Adding an extra 4” all around to accommodate the quilting, she would need 7 ½ yards for the backing. $90
Batting – Let’s use a pre-cut here to minimize the overages. Warm & Natural queen sized batting, 90” x 108” - $32
Binding – Assume she is going to use 3” strips, she’d need a total of ¾ yard - $9
Long Arm Quilting – Let’s go with a standard rate of $0.02 per square inch for a basic all-over pattern - $155
Pattern – As a supporter of independent quilt designers, Quilt Girl would definitely buy a pattern as she would never copy one - $12
The total cost for Quilt Girl to make a queen sized quilt for her and her new Hubby would come to $418. This assumes all of her labor is “free” and she does the binding herself, as opposed to paying the long arm quilter for applying the binding.
Over $400 for a quilt is a significant financial commitment, but the dollar amount pales in contrast to the amount of time and love that goes into creating a quilt. Well worth the investment, I am sure both she and Train Guy would agree.
Please join us here every other Wednesday for another fun, fiber-filled installment of By the Yard. You can read more from By the Yard and find more comics at: www.bytheyardcomics.com.
