I have the Brother 1034D serger, which I use in garment construction. I was a novice at using one when I bought it on the internet. Found it surprisingly very easy to use, especially after watching the enclosed video.
The only thing I use it for in quilting is trimming and overcasting the edge of a quilt before binding. I love this, it keeps the edges tidy, provides a guide for stitching the binding on, and gives a little padding to the finished binding. Differential feed on the serger is necessary to do this, however. The quilt on my bed still has a serged edge because I couldn't find a fabric that was just right for the binding!
I also prepare my ravelly fabrics for prewash by serging the raw edges. I would only do this on homespun or possibly flannels in quilting. Good quilting fabrics don't usually need serging.