How vested are you in this quilt? Do you want to be the only one working on it? How large is it? Will you be doing you quilting on your sewing machine? Then, the last, can you afford to pay the LA quilter for the specialty quilting?
If you decide to hire the LA'er then just do a simple drawing of what you want and do nothing to your quilt. Make sure you and the LA'er write down what is expected/wanted on the quilt. Oh yeah, mark which end of the quilt is 'UP' so it isn't quilted upside down.
Otherwise, you got a lot of good advice. Though I found pounce does rub off rather too fast for my liking and I prefer Golder Threads to Press & Seal for ease in removal. Practice first to ease your comfort level.
ali