The first time I had a quilt long armed, The Undulating Terror, I went to a woman who was recommended to me.... I asked over the phone how much it would roughly be, gave her the measurements and was pleasantly surprised to hear a figure around the £65 - £85 mark.
I then travelled the 25 miles to her home to deliver it and discuss designs!
Boy could she talk!!!
She yakked and yakked and yakked, finally we started to discuss the design I wanted and then we came to fees and time expectation.
She said about a month as she had a queue of projects awaiting quilting... fair dos, she then told me it would cost £125!
After I gathered my jaw off the floor I asked why the difference between the quoted price on the phone and now, the quilt hadnt got any bigger and it was a basic all over pantograph. She said that was the standard £1 per square inch or some such so I accepted it, left it with her and went home.
Three months later, after calling up regularly to see how she was getting on, I went back to collect it, unquilted and still very much at the bottom of her 'queue'.
I took it to Andrew at White Orchid quilting, about 10 miles from me ... I returned a week later paid my £100 and took it home and was delighted with the result.