I agree with what joe'smom says here:
"I think of the quilting stage of quiltmaking as a practical, utilitarian step necessary to turn a top into something that can be used and enjoyed. This is not to say that it can't be beautiful, but in my mind, the quilting is in service to the goal of creating a quilt. Or in other words, I piece a top because I want to end up with a quilt, and the way to get there is to quilt it. I don't piece a top because I want something to practice the art of quilting on. "
I am a beginner at best on FMQ and I do this on my domestic machine. It is challenging no question. When I see quilts that are elaborately quilted my mind automatically says, WOW that's great, but the quilt goes into a category of "computerized" quilting. I love piecing so that's what I personally focus on when I look at a quilt unless the quilting is such that it becomes the focus instead...does that make sense? That said if I could afford it, I would send some of my tops out to be long arm quilted because they are large or I want them done so I can get on to the next one :-)