I quilt most of my smaller items on my viking sapphire 850. all queen & king size i take to my LQS and rent their longarm. It is only $15.00 an hour and that's a lot cheaper than buying a longarm of my own. I find the motions are basically the same, one i move the fabric and one i move the machine.
I've still a lot to learn before i get into really fancy stitching. I've started doing feathers but there is a lot more i want to try in the future. you can always practice on muslin before you work on a finished quilt top. it is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. keep trying.