I drive two hours to rent a longarm and it is something I look forward to now...as much as I would love to, I just cannot fit a longarm in my house right now, unless it can convert to a bed and we can sleep on it
At the studio where I go rent, I normally rent it for the whole day, and go when I have a few tops to be quilted depending on the size and pattern I want to use, now that I have done it for a few times, I have a pretty good idea on what to expect. To be able to rent that longArm, the studio required a certification class, where she taught us the basics of long arming, preparing your quilt top to be longarmed, attaching it to the zippers, which she sold to us and with them I can have a queen size loaded in 10 to 15 minutes, operating the machine and included in the class fee was a muslin sandwich, I think something like 40" square, where we got to practice hands on zipping, loading and quilting. It was an all day class, and I would recommend that if you are going to rent a longArm to get something similiar..I have never even seen a long arm before that class and after that class, I booked a time to bring my my first queen size Bargello to quilt it on the LA..I guess I loved that much, lol.
Here are some points to consider:
1- what kind of quilting are you planning on doing on your quilt? All over? If so, I personally won't take time quilting it with water coluble thread..because chances are if you can doodle that all over design on paper and the longArm has a stitch regulator, your all over quilting will look just fine.
2- how good are you machine quilting on your home swing machine? If you are great, you probably won't like your first try at LAing because sure there is a learning curve involoved.
3-I won't recommend using a panto or custom quilting on your first or second or third LAed quilts...this is just from my own experience, to me pantos are stressful, lol, you are trying to focus on them so much, my eyes and head start hurting, of course I only tried it for five minutes in the first class and decided, no thanks, I'll stick to what I can doodle and quilt free motion. Custom quilting on the LA requires a LOT of practice..after renting the LA for I guess five times now, the last time I started practicing custom, and it is OK..not great, but if I keep practicing I'll get there
I hope, lol.
I am attaching links to the threads of the first two quilts I LAed on first rental time, and the last charity ones Ipractcied custom quilting on.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...d-t110136.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...d-t114058.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...g-t187902.html
All this being said, if all you want to do is baste a quilt quickly and then quilt it on your DSM, why not just rent the LA to baste the quilt? It won't take you long, you would have played with it, and you won't waste your time and efforts quilting with water soluble thread. Most LAs I used have a basting stitch and many LAer offer basting services.
Hope this helps you make a decision on what to do.