for many years, I hand quilted...so I had to really plan in advance for quilt gifts. Then, I was able to get a Brother PS1500 on a grace frame and that worked wonderfully for 9 years. That allowed me to increase the gifts I could make and start doing more charity quilts (Project Linus). That set-up worked great for my needs and I'd still be using it now, except........I saw the Innova quilting machine on a frame and fell in love with it. Hmmmmm, luckily my husband decided to get it for me and now I am in a quilting wonderland. I love it! I do not quilt for money. I quilt for gifts and charity quilts for Project Linus and Quilts of Valor. I figured I could increase my "production" and the money saved by paying to get it quilted would "even" itself out after several years and many quilts. I don't regret spending the money...Now I regret that I'm getting older and may not finish all the quilts I want to make (and those I don't even know about yet)! But, it's our passion...so it's good to feed that passion and share our gifts whenever we can!