I don't have a long arm either. Can't afford and don't have room for one. I have quilted several king and queen size quilts on a machine with 7" throat. I stayed with stitch in the ditch and started in the middle. I rolled (very tightly) the side that was going in the machine, and used metal bands just made for it to hold the roll tight. I now have a machine with a 10" throat and I'm learning to free motion with the quilt puddled around the machine. Where there's a will there's a way. If you are happy with hand quilting, go for it. I love to handquilt, but I'm also loving machine quilting.