Welcome from central Florida. I was lucky enough to find a quilt shop that will let me rent their long arm machine. I found that it is just as difficult to quilt free hand on the long arm as it is on my home sewing machine. In fact, I think I can control my home sewing machine better. The only way I would invest in a long arm is if I bought the automatic patterns and then I would have to quilt professionally to pay for it. Then I wouldn't have time to play around with my quilts. Good luck and I hope you enjoy this board.