there is a shop near(15 miles)me that does offer lessons/rentals. You get an hour of training the an hour to practice. you can practice on your own quilts or the charity ones they have at the shop. After that, the rental is $18/hr., two hour minimum. Haven't done it yet but want to try it someday. My friend in another state has been doing this for quite a while. the only drawback she has found-when the shop she trained at overbooked, she needed to go to another and take THEIR training before she could rent their machine. Understandable, because shop #2 doesn't know if she knows what she's doing, but was an added expense for her.