It's worthwhile to make tops even if they wait a long time to get quilted. My sister and I have made tops and quilts for many years, but it's only recently that I bought a relatively low-cost used frame quilting system. Now I am happy I have all these tops ready to quilt! I quilted one of my sister's queen-sized tops as a Christmas present for our brother in just one week! My sister has physical and cognitive disabilities, so all of her quilt tops are far from perfect. This quilt was the first one I did on my longarm setup, and my quilting of it was far from perfect. But, when the quilt was done, it looked spectacular anyway!
In my case, I could do sit-down quilting on my DSM but I really did not enjoy it. Never thought I would be able to have a frame quilting setup. I love the one I have but, if I didn't have enough space/money for it, I would have done well to have invested in one of the less expensive options years ago. There are kits available to make-your-own quilting frame to sit on a table, there is the Easy Quilt frame, etc. There are lots of alternatives to quilting on a standard DSM setup. Check Youtube and Google websites for ideas.