I learned to quilt with my Elna 7200 (Janome mc6500). You will experience most if not all of the same issues with a domestic machine on a quilting frame as you will a mid-arm or long arm. Yes, it was a pain to move it off/on the frame or to have to drag out one of my other machines when I wanted to sew on another project while a quilt was on the frame but it was a good learning experience for my Voyager and I wanted to see if I really liked frame quilting before investing any money in it. I learned about tension even though my Elna tried very hard & usually gets it correct all by itself. Some days--it just didn't like the thread or how tight the quilt was on the frame. I even had a dirty batting that caused threads to shred and bird seed like stuff to fly up out of the quilt! My Voyager is actually easier to operate & troubleshoot because of what I learned during the 4+ years I used a domestic machine on the frame.