Momto4, before I got my longarm machine I hand quilted my quilts. I was working full time outside the home, but would set aside 30 minutes every evening before bedtime to relax and quilt. It took about 4 months to quilt full size quilts by hand. When the grandkids came along, I wanted my quilts done quicker so I quilted them on my domestic machine (a little Kemmore that I gave $75 for new. No walking foot) Have you considered the "quilt as you go method"? or "strip quilting" where you layer the backing, batting and maybe 1/3 of the top and quilt it before adding another 1/3 or so of the top to the backing and batting. Making a little less bulk to handle.