I am a newby, too, and just the job of putting the quilt together is enough for me now. I checked at our local quilt store and they recommended a couple of long arm quilters. Loretta has done 3 of mine for a very reasonable rate and her work is lovely.
A lot of the quilters on this board quilt in the ditch (the seams) on their regular machines. I would like to try that one of these days but have to admit the ultimate would be to learn free motion! :lol: