I too was a hand quilter (in a lap hoop) and was never any good, nor enjoyed, FMQ on my domestic which is flush in a cabinet (can't imagine attempting FMQ without a machine set flush in a table or cabinet. I did do a few things but I found I was always tensed up, could never relax and had a hard time keeping my scale of design uniform throughout the quilt. I was fine with straight line quilting using the walking foot but that was also not much fun with anything bigger than a twin size quilt. I did mix hand quilting and machine quilting on a few pieces but always ended up much happier with the quilts that were all hand quilted. I hated making the quilt sandwich with a white hot passion. Then I discovered longarm quilting on a frame.
I LOVE frame quilting. The first time I laid hands on a longarm at a quilt show I knew that was my destiny.