Every quilt I have seen is way out of my price range. I would figure that a quilt would be much easier to make than a bag. Does this mostly have to with independent makers being the exclusive makers out there? I know that would drive up the price, but still!
It seems like a relatively easy DIY project, so I have no reason to not attempt it myself. I just want something simple.
Do you think quilts will ever break into the mainstream?

thermarest alpine comfortor, golite quilts, the entire big agnes line... all mainstream store bought versions of the backpacking quilt. the reason their expensive is because of the materials used. 800+ down and pertex quantum and GL fabrics. there are quilts in the $120ish-$200 range out there. also most of them are made in the USA. making the labor cost 900% higher than being made overseas.

The golite 3 season quilt is listed as $275 on the main site, but is selling for 150-160 on othes sites. I guess that is the synthetic version. Not a horrible price.

There have been some well documented DIY quilt projects here, and I'd encourage you to make one of your own, even if it involves cutting up an old sleeping bag.

I would not call a DIY quilt "relatively easy" if you've never worked with down filling before. Yikes!

Get a prodigy from enlightened equipment -
http://enlightenedequipment.webs.com/prodigy.htm

Hand made by tim marshall from this site, the warmest quilt goes for $205 and is pretty light for being synthetic insulation. That being said, I got my Golite ultra 20 directly from golite for $180 a couple years ago and you can find quilts way cheaper here, barely used.

Most arent made by big manufacturers

Those that are u can find on clearence quite a bit

Pricing rarely has much to do with material amount but rather demand and perceived value

Witness lingerie ;)

The reason Quilts or other ultralite weight gear is expensive is because of exotic materials used. A synthetic quilt will cost about $60.00 to $80.00 for material if you cant buy in large bulk from the manufactures.
It take you about 4 to 6 hard working hours to finish. So you have a quilt that sells for $150.00 that has $60.00 in material and $90.00 left for labor so the person is only making $15.00 a hour and he or she has family to support. I would say $15.00 a hour is pretty cheap labor for a quality product made in the USA.Plus sewing everyday gets to be a drag and hard labor compared to a sales job.
Terry

Synthetic quilts are easy to sew and pretty cheap. Check out kits at RayWay products, or purchase the materials yourself at e.g. Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics. It just takes a few hours cutting and sewing time to whip one out, I've made three so far, and more are coming. Plans are not too hard to find, and the exact design is not critical.

And they are even cheaper if you can find a closeout on lightweight uncoated nylon or synthetic insulation.