I decided I NEEDED a longarm when no matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep the puckers out of the back of the quilt when quilting on my DSM. (Never sent one to a longarm to get it finished.) That was about 5 years after I started quilting. Then it took me over a year to figure out how I could afford one and to convince my husband that it was OK to put it in the formal living room. I wish I'd done it sooner - I love it!! I'm ready to upgrade to a larger machine and will probably do that at the end of this year.