The reason for basting is that you can then remove one of the poles, giving you more area for quilting. I have a Flynn frame and used it to baste a large quilt with water soluble thread before quilting it on my sewing machine. It did fine for that, but like most things it requires practice. I think most people give up the first time they use it because they don't expect the learning curve. Also it is definitely much easier to use on smaller quilts, since the longer poles are harder to work with, and of course they take up more room. But it is possible to do large quilts with the frame - just be patient and practice. Since it costs about $130, you can't compare it to a longarm.