You have so many answers!!! Some I disagree with
1) Zippers -- our LQS rents out the machines. She sells you parts of a zipper. You take them home and BASTE with your DSM the zipper parts onto your quilt top and backing. Then when you go to the shop, it only takes minutes to zipe it onto the leaders. NO PINS!
2) Even when I first started out, it took me only 2-3 hours to do a LARGE meandering on a queen quilt.
Note: you should have someone there to help you when things go wrong. At home, I had no one to help me so I took a LONG time figuring out what the heck went wrong. I was in a quilt shop not long ago and the woman that worked there knew NOTHING about the machine and couldn't help the quilter. So make SURE someone that's knowledgeable is there to help you!