One reason I like renting time on the long arm is so I can say I made the whole quilt myself. The other, it's much cheaper to do it myself than send it out, at least in my area.
I pay $25.00 an hour, and the machine is a computerized (panto patterns) Gammill. The initial "training" was $150.00, and $29.95 for the zipper. They open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 3:00. They only book one person on each machine, per day. If your quilt is extra large (CA King) and can't finish by the time they close, they stay until you are done, which is nice. There's no pressure to finish. They don't make you take it off the frame and come back. There's a 3 hour minimum, and the price includes thread. She has batting available for purchase, on the roll, if you don't bring your own. It's lots of fun and I've met wonderful people there to socialize while I am quilting. I really like it. I can get a 78 x 88 done in 3 hours.
Hope this helps. I say you should go for it.
Last edited by Girlfriend; 08-23-2014 at 09:04 AM.