thanks for the encouragement. twoo....

It's not as if a longarmer goes from piecing to long arming. I too did many a quilt with a do exotic machine, then moved to a nine inch throat and then a mid arm. There are quilters out there who will do a quilt for less than you quote. Check personal ads in quilt magazines.

Perfect advice (smile). I agree.

Do what you can with what you can! Happy quilting![/quote]

Please check these quilting prices at Happy Crafters. http://www.happycrafters.net/Quilting-Services.aspx

I made my first quilt around 1985. Up until recently I hand quilted. My hand quilting is adequate, just adequate. I have tied many a quilts as well. I have an unknown amount of UFO's stashed everywhere. I have always been apprehensive about sending a quilt out for LA from the expense aspect, and even if I could afford to own one there is absolutely not a speck of space in my home to house one. I have narrowed my quilt construction down to lap quilts, wall hangings, runners, etc so I can easily quilt them on my DM I even took a large queen sized UFO and chopped it up into a couple of pieces so i could more easily quilt. My next experiment will be quilt as you go.

Don't give up, there is always some sort of alterntive to keep you quilting and enjoying it.

Don't get discouraged. Wonderful quilts were being made long before the advent of the LA. Many ways to finish a quilt without any long-arming.

I, too, get very discouraged when I see what other people can do. However, even though I know what I make are very simple, people who get them think they are the best thing since sliced bread. I think it's because hardly anyone learns how to sew anymore, and people don't have time to make handmade things. (They no longer teach sewing in high schools in my city anymore, and my own 18 year old daughter has no interest in learning any needle crafting at all. How disappointing! I'm hoping someday for a granddaughter who wants to learn this stuff.)

I know where all my mistakes are, and I bet everyone knows that for their own quilts, but non-quilters don't get out their magnifying glass and look for mistakes. Do not dispair! One of the first quilts that I made was a queen sized one that I designed using Quilt Wizard software. It is comprised of 12" blocks and many of them are cut off and not straight, and many of the points in the stars don't match, and some of them are cut off, too. It's on the sofa in my family room and gets used all the time. On the label on the back I put the date and wrote a note about how I didn't think it was very nice, but that I was a rank beginner. Maybe someday it will end up at a yard sale when my kids clean out my house after I die. :-)
There's a picture of it below and you can see the points cut off in one of the blocks! I also quilted it using my Janome 4100QDC and I had to wrestle with it, but it can be done.

I only stitch in the ditch and have never sent anything out for LA as I assumed it was really expensive. Thanks for the link to Happy Crafters - their prices seems quite reasonable to me. Now, the only problem that I have is that Happy Crafters is in the States and I am in Canada. Does anyone know of any LA quilters in Canada that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Lots of great advice here thanks fellow quilters :)

I need to quilt looking at the fancy ones and stick with what I know.I do like the ones I have made :)

Thanks

I, too, share your feelings, and the machines themselves are cost prohibitive. So my solution is to make only little quilts now. I have a lot of tops and fabric for more, but I can't afford the quilting and I can't do it myself.