I almost always make only bed sized quilts, so they are heavy. In-the-hoop embroidery would work fine, EXCEPT that the weight of the quilt is likely to distort the design (been there, done that). I have even had hoopless fancy stitching (stitches built into the machine) go wonky, caused by the bulk and the weight of the quilt. I've done some successful satin stitching within the quilt border, but mostly when I'm dealing with a whole quilt (already sandwiched), I stick to free motion quilting. It's very versatile (with practice).