What all of this discussion shows is that we are really lucky. It is wonderful that everyone doesn't have to like the same quilting design, therefore we are getting new designs developed all of the time. The same with fabric and quilting toys. If we all liked the same thing it would get fairly boring after awhile. Quite often I wish I still could have a full time job because I could have a lot more fabric, thread, and toys. But on the other hand I wouldn't have so much freedom to quilt when I want to.
I do like more quilting than SID. To me, it gets kind of boring. I don't mean that I am going to micro quilt, because I don't want to work on a quilt for several months. I do plan on doing a whole cloth and that will take much more time.
Right now, I am practicing on my quilt tops to get to the point that I can quilt for a few clients. I have been told to start, but I want to feel comfortable first.
I absolutely love all kinds of feathers and I practice those quite a bit. This does make for a quilt that has a lot of quilting, but they are beautiful and I like them. I also don't have a preference for SID many times because you get boxed in and I don't like starting and stopping that many times. It is nice to outline certain parts of the pattern. I also really like McTavishing in certain areas of a quilt.
Several people have stated that LAQ have not followed their directions in quilting. When I had my quilts finished by LAQs and I know at the LQS where I live, they do work orders that state exactly what you want so there is no question as to your preferences(It also has the size of the quilt, color of thread, type of batting, and what it will cost so there are no surprises). The LAQs that I know that have been told "do what you like" will decide on a plan and check with the piecer to make sure it is something that they would like. I would never just take a quilt and do whatever without a client knowing what I was planning.
Sometimes you do have to search for someone that you "click" with as stated previously.
All in all I still think we are very lucky that we have so many choices!