I suspect many a folk in the forum are going to be very jealous about your soapstone, it's a very popular and beautiful stone. I'm not a stone professional at all, but can tell you that I've learned pricing for fabrication varies greatly depending on where you are and what the job entails. I'd recommend you do some research to find a few reputable fabricators in your area and get some written estimates from them.

around $20-30 a SF

I can tell you that this is not a place to go for the lowest bid. The people who do the best stone work are artists. And some are a lot better than others. Go for quality and experience, not just price. Saving a few hundred bucks here could cause many regrets later.

$30 per (fnished) sqft including everything. Plus you get the left over pieces back. They break anything, they buy new slabs at their expense.

My quote was roughly $100 per sqft, from three fabricators. These quotes did not included anything crazy. I must live in the wrong part of the country!

Since you say economical, I am going to chime in. If I had slabs of soapstone, I would cut them myself. Unlike granite, they can be diy with woodworking tools, albeit you should use the right tools. While the M. Texiera Soapstone company has diy information and references the article I linked below (from This Old House) I also highly recommend the video link you have to copy and paste below this text. (This is from a Canadian Soapstone company - very good videos.) I would only recommend this if you have had some experience with power tools.

http://soapstonecounters.com/Howto.htm

If this scares you but you are intrigued, I would recommend purchasing a soapstone tile and trying to cut it. Just my 2 cents. I wish that I could afford a slab and I would cut it in a heartbeat.

Hestia

Here is a link that might be useful: This Old House on Soapstone, step by step