I have done several raw edge applique block quilts. I had an older, excellent straight stitch machine that was great for piecing, but did not have a blanket stitch for the raw edge applique, so I purchased a machine with a blanket stitch. I decided that I wouldn't be doing enough quilts to justify the cost of a machine to do the quilting and I felt the learning curve was pretty steep to do it well, so I am sending the quilts out to be quilted. Sometimes I wish I had purchased a machine with a large throat that could also do blanket stitch. Then again I don't think I will be doing many more quilts because of my husband's health issues, so maybe I made the right choice. Take a little time to analyze your situation, keeping in mind we don't have a crystal ball to tell us the future.