When I made my 1st quilt I sent it to a LAQ with the request of simple meandering and not to go over my embroidery designs. It came back with quilting over my designs. Decided if that's what's going to happen I might as well do it myself so I got my 1st quilt machine, a Viking MegaQuilter 9" on a Grace Pro frame. Added PCQ robotics, moved up to a retrofitted PCQ/MQR, then onto a Juki stretched 18" still using the same frame. I found I enjoy quilting since I acquired a program called ProQ Designer which allows me to layout all my patterns, tweak them to suit myself, etc. I enjoy custom quilting more so than E2E but that's just me. Since then I've moved up to a 26" Innova with a 12 foot frame and upgraded my MQR system to fit it. I don't quilt for anyone but myself. Is it worth it to me? Yes, as I have a finished product/gift made all by me. If I had to send out my quilts, I can only imagine how much it would cost with custom quilting. Sometimes I don't quilt for 6 months at a time but I still don't feel I wasted my money on it.
Also I live in a small town so finding a quilter nearby might be a problem so would have to add shipping to the cost of making a quilt. All my quilts are gifts too. I enjoy the process from start to finish in making a quilt and have the satisfaction of a job well done.......................even if its not perfect.............but then only I know that usually. Those that receive one of my quilts unbeknown to them that they're getting one do realize that I put a lot of myself and time into this gift. I do it because I want to and not for any other reason .............just because I enjoy doing it and seeing the surprised look on their face when they receive. That makes it all worthwhile to me.
Just my take on the subject.