It gets expensive if you have to send the quilts out to be quilted (not counting the waiting list). I don't want, or really have the money to spend to have my quilts quilted and my machine has a hard time with the big quilts, so I quilt as I go and put the blocks together afterwards. This way I can use my fancy stitches and if I don't like the stitch after I get started can change for the next block.