I should mention a couple of things, the first is that I do consider myself technically proficient but designed challenged in the quilting aspects, I had a long arm available to me for a few years and did indeed complete quite a few tops in that time. I see what other quilters can do to enhance a project, I just get through getting it together!
Second is that I was extremely fussy loading my quilts on the first time through. I typically spent quite a bit of time, at least an hour (took longer at first) setting up the first time getting everything as nice and perfect fresh out of the dryer and touched up with the iron as I can both top and bottom, I usually roll it out and back up and then out again... and would quilt the "bed" of the quilt the first day, and then come back the next and turn it and do the borders. Had to add some visiting time and about a 45 minute drive each way to the day. A more complex project was sometimes done in 3 days, I was having quite a bit of health issues and could only work for so many hours at a time, with set-up on one day, the "bed" quilting on day two and borders (sometimes all four) on day three. For consistency I really like to do all the main parts at a time whether I am free hand or following a pattern.
As opposed to the initial set up, turning only took minutes to do and I never had any problem with any excess fabric or pleats.
But, you do need to have a long frame. Most times you can make do with a 10' but there are times when those 12' rails come in handy. A lot of people just don't have the set-ups to turn and have to chunk. With my particular vision issues and relatively short arms, I could only do about 8-12" chunks and my needle/stitch placement accuracy is just not where I want it and I feel is a visible flaw so if I couldn't turn and still wanted a border maybe I would design in an inter-locking design that could still be done in passes across the quilt.
But there are lots of quilts that can go edge to edge just fine and never be a concern.
Final thought to consider is there have been times when I wanted long lines of continuous quilting for whatever reason, around a border or diagonal sashing. I've gone over a long arm top for finishing on my domestic machine. Yeah, I still don't like to have to manhandle all that fabric and weight but it's basically quilted and so much easier just to put on a finishing touch.