My first quilts were all tied, many years ago. More recently, due to arthritis in my hands, tying became too difficult, so I switched to placing bar tacks instead of ties. Next came my embroidery machine, but because of the limited area it would do at one time, it is very tedious to do an entire quilt this way. For my DGKs, I placed redwork designs randomly across the quilts in addition to tying/tacking. I also sent some quilts to be LA quilted, but it is rather expensive to do this. Finally, last year I got a used 15" Bailey.
I am still in the learning stage with the Bailey, but I like being able to finish my own quilts. Budget permitting, I hope to attend the Machine Quilting Expo in Portland, in October.