I do quilt myself, both by hand and machine. I can do a lot more designs by hand than machine, but I'm slowly building up my machine skills. I'd suggest finding a local class to get you started and then just practice, practice, practice!
You are somewhat limited by the size of your sewing machine; I have one with a large throat so it's not a problem for me.
You may find you don't enjoy it as much as you enjoy other parts of the process and that may be another reason some quilters choose to send out their quilts to longarm quilters.