I quilted on my sewing machine for years and loved it,however I just perched a long arm last year and I'm still learning on it,yes they are expensive but it came my time to finally get one. When I quilted on my reg. machine I did a lot of "free motion" by just dropping the feed dog and then just practicing a lot,and I always practiced for at least 15 minutes before I went to quilt or wall hanging. I know you can do it,I taught myself by just listening to others how they did it and reading info. on it. You have to keep folding your fabric and doing small sections at a time. I say just "go for it",you will be amazed at the results. I started with just "stitching in the ditch". Good Luck :)
Patti