How to Find a Quilter to Complete Your Project

For years, you've collected materials for a quilt that you can picture in your mind - one made from your child's favorite clothes, the worn T-shirts from all her swim meets, photographs of her growing up.... Now you realize you'll never have the time or expertise to put it all together. What can you do?

Things You'll Need

• Quilt Patterns
• Batting
• Fabrics
• Quilt Binding
• Quilting Needles
• Quilting Threads

Instructions

1. Formulate a clear idea of how you would like your finished quilt to look. Research in books and on the Internet for pictures and techniques. Sketch out your design to the best of your ability.

2. Contact several professional quilters. Perhaps you know someone whose work you've seen and admire; that's a great place to start. Otherwise, if you're looking for someone locally, find quilters under "Quilting" or "Quilts" in your yellow pages, or ask at your fabric store, an adult education center, arts and crafts shows, and specialty shops that sell handmade articles.

3. Use the Internet. Search under "quilts," "custom-made" and any other term that will narrow your search - perhaps "Amish," "memory" or "applique." Or use a referral service that has contact with quilt makers, such as imandi.com.

4. Look at samples of the quilter's work and talk with her about her style and techniques.

5. Describe your quilt as you envision it. Tell her what materials you have, how much of the quilt you have completed, your color theme, the quilt's intended use and the finished size. Give her your drawing or a picture of a similar quilt.

6. Ask the quilt maker what she will do, how she'll do it, what other materials she'll use, how long it will take and how much she expects it to cost.

7. Give the quilter your materials; insure them if they need to be shipped.

8. Leave a deposit with the quilter. It's always a good idea, too, to write at least an informal agreement to avoid misunderstandings.

9. Stay in touch. This is your one-of-a-kind, heirloom quilt, and you want to be sure that you and your quilter are of one mind.

Tips & Warnings

• It will take three to six months for a quilt to be crafted from start to finish. If you only need the machine-quilting and/or binding done, this can be completed in two to three weeks.

• Expect to pay a professional quilt maker about $25 per hour. The cost for the machine-quilting, which usually takes a maximum of 5 hours, is $40 per hour.

• If you've started the quilt and it needs to be taken apart and partially redone or if you make changes once the quilter starts, expect the estimated cost to increase.