Quilt Cost Calculator

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Quilt Cost Breakdown by Size

Every number below assumes quilting cotton at $8–15 per yard (36 inches per yard, 44-inch width), packaged batting, and quilting the project yourself on a home machine. Yardage covers the pieced top, backing, and binding. - **Baby (36×45"):** about 4 yards total — 2 for the top, 1.5 for backing, 3/8 for binding — runs $30–60. Add crib batting ($10–15) and a spool of thread ($5–10): **$45–85**. - **Throw (60×80"):** 10 5/8 yards (5 top, 5 backing, 5/8 binding) costs $85–160, plus batting ($15–25) and thread ($10–20): **$110–205**. - **Twin (70×90"):** roughly 13 yards ($105–195), batting $15–25, thread $10–20: **$130–240**. - **Queen (90×100"):** about 19.5 yards ($155–290), queen batting $25–35, thread $15–30: **$195–355**. - **King (108×108"):** near 23 yards ($185–345), king batting $30–45, thread $20–40: **$235–430**. Piecing waste is built into the top yardage, and backing figures use standard 44-inch fabric seamed to width — the wideback shortcut below trims those numbers further. If you send the quilt out for professional quilting instead of finishing it yourself, add the longarm costs in the next section.

Longarm Quilting Service Costs

Longarm services quote by the square inch: multiply the quilt's width by its length, then by the rate. A 60×80 throw is 4,800 square inches. Edge-to-edge (one repeating pantograph across the whole quilt) is the budget option. Most studios in 2026 charge $0.02–$0.025 per square inch, with some at $0.03 — so that throw runs $96–120, up to about $144 at the high end. A 90×100 queen (9,000 square inches) lands around $180–225. Custom quilting — different motifs in blocks, sashing, and borders — jumps to $0.04–$0.06 per square inch for light custom and $0.07–$0.12 for dense work, so the same throw could cost $192–576. Some longarmers bill custom work hourly instead, at roughly $30 per hour. Semi-custom (edge-to-edge in the center with a separate border treatment) splits the difference at about $0.03–$0.035. Budget for extras: most studios set a $60–65 minimum, charge $5–15 for thread, sell batting if you don't supply your own, and add return shipping ($20–40) on mail-in quilts. Rates vary by region and by quilter, so confirm before committing — but because nearly everyone uses the per-square-inch convention, quotes are easy to compare side by side.

Making vs Buying: The Honest Comparison

A mass-produced queen quilt set from a big-box store runs $35–100, and machine-made throw quilts start around $50. You will not beat that by sewing — the fabric alone for a handmade throw costs more than the finished store product. Mass-market quilts use thinner batting, looser stitching, and printed rather than pieced tops, but they exist, and it's worth being honest about the gap. Handmade is a different market entirely. On Etsy and at quilt shows, throw quilts average around $400, queens around $800, and kings over $1,200 — with wide swings on either side for pattern complexity and reputation. Against those numbers, making your own looks like a bargain: a longarmed throw costs about $205–325 all-in (materials plus edge-to-edge quilting), and a queen about $375–580 — roughly half the going handmade rate. So the honest framing: you don't make a quilt to save money over a discount store. You make one to get an heirloom-grade quilt — your fabrics, your pattern, quality batting — at 40–60% of what an equivalent handmade quilt sells for, plus however many hours you enjoy (or endure) at the machine. If you only want something warm on the couch, buy the $50 throw and skip the guilt.

Where the Money Hides

**Backing is the biggest lever.** A 90×100 queen needs about 9 yards of standard 44-inch fabric ($72–135) because you're seaming three lengths together. A 108-inch wideback covers it in a single 3-yard cut, and at $16–20 per yard that's $48–60 — up to $75 saved, with no seams to match. On a 60×80 throw, 2.5 yards of wideback ($40–50) replaces 5 yards of standard fabric ($40–75). **Sale shopping matters more than any other habit.** Quilting cotton lists at $8–15 per yard, but 30–40% off promotions are routine at chain stores and online shops — a $12 fabric drops to $7–8, and across a 10-yard throw that's $40 or more back in your pocket. **Precuts carry a premium.** A 40-strip jelly roll contains about 2 3/4 yards of fabric and sells for $35–45 — that's $13–16 per yard, the top of the yardage range. You're paying for the cutting. Fine when the curated collection is the point; expensive as a default. **Batting brands spread widely.** Baseline packaged batting runs $15–25 for a throw and $30–45 for a king, but premium name-brand cotton can hit $27 for a throw and $45–70 for a king. Buying off the roll or in two-packs pulls the per-quilt price back toward the baseline.

Pricing Your Quilts to Sell

The common convention is materials × 2 to 3. A throw with $150 in fabric and batting lists at $300–450 — which is exactly where the handmade market sits (throw average ≈ $400), so the shorthand holds up surprisingly well. Then run the hourly honesty check. A throw takes most quilters 15–25 hours to piece, quilt, and bind. Sell it for $400 with $150 in materials and $110 in longarm fees, and you keep $140 — for 20 hours of work, that's $7 an hour. To clear even $15 an hour on that same quilt you'd need to charge about $560. A queen is harsher: at the $800 market average, $275 in materials and $200 of longarm leave roughly $325 for 30-plus hours — about $11 an hour. Practical takeaways: never price against $50 store quilts, because that buyer was never yours; quote custom commissions as materials plus an honest hourly rate, stated up front; and itemize your labor even when you discount it, so buyers see what the discount actually is. Quilters who sell sustainably treat ×2 as the floor for simple patterns and ×3 or more for complex piecing, appliqué, or custom quilting — and they say no to anything below the floor.

Budget Build: A Throw Quilt Under $100

Here's a 60×80 throw for under $100 using the same math as everything above — it just takes patience and a sale calendar. - Top: 5 yards at $7/yard (a routine 30–40% off sale on $10–12 fabric): **$35** - Backing: 2.5 yards of wideback at $12/yard on sale: **$30** - Binding: 5/8 yard at $8/yard: **$5** - Packaged throw batting, low end of the $15–25 range: **$15** - One spool of piecing and quilting thread: **$5** **Total: $90.** Two rules make it work. First, quilt it yourself on your home machine — a simple grid or organic wavy lines is very forgiving, and skipping the longarm saves $96 or more. Second, never pay full price for fabric: buy the top fabric when it's on sale even if you won't start the quilt for months. At regular low-end prices ($8/yard with standard 44-inch backing) the same quilt costs about $105–110 — still respectable, but that last $15 is pure timing. What you shouldn't cut: batting quality (cheap bonded polyester bunches after washing) and binding fabric (it takes the most wear). Trim the design instead — a two-color quilt can be striking, and every fabric you drop is one less minimum cut to buy.