A serger is not a necessity for a quilter. I have had one for about 20 plus years and love it. It can be a bi--- to thread, I have learned to cut the threads for the upper and lower loopers and tie my new thread on and sew till it comes thru. Saves alot of time and aggravation. I have made quilts with it, if the tension is set correctly, the seam will be as stong as a sewing machine stitch. They do have one that threads itself, rather expensive. I think the people that did not like their sergers may have given up to soon, it does take a while to get to know the machine.

I have a serger and no, it is not a must have for quilting. I use mine to serge the edges of my fabric before I wash them, otherwise I use it for clothing construction.

I have one that is about 12 years old; never used it for quilting but it is indispensable IMHO for making clothes, home decor, accessories, wouldn't be without it for finishing seams but tight curves are a b**ch. It is not a must have for quilting; in fact I don't think I would trust myself to use it for quilting, not enough accuracy for 1/4" seams.

I have a Baby Lock serger and use it off and on to finish edges on clothing I make on my regular sewing machine (limited to my adorable 2 1/2 yr old grandson right now) and for making quilt-as-you-go quilts. Mostly the size of a throw. They're fun and convenient for some things but not necessary for regular quilting. I mostly use the regular sewing machine for quilting.

I have a serger and my 29 yr. old uses it to do the crazy quilt top we make. He really loves it for that. He just lets his mind wander when putting the blocks together.
But I like useing it to do the finished top to keep it from fraying.

I have a serger and very rarely us it. Not a necessity for quilting

I have a Small Home Based Sewing Business & my Serger comes in handy for finishing raw edges or anything I want to sew to make it look better. If you want to sell your quilted or sewn clothes they will be worth more to customers if they see the Serged seams. Also, besides looking better overall the sewn item(s) will last much longer if they are sewed on the sewing machine, then Serged.

Last week, I wanted to make a beach bag for my DGDs Graduation quickly, so I Serged the 1 & 1/2 inch strips together in rows instead of sewing them on the sewing machine & pressed them in one direction. I then FMQ'd the fabric to Insul-Brite (makes items insulated, i.e. Suntan oil or food) & the lining, Serged the inside seams (then went back over them on the sewing machine) & I had finished, except for turning it inside out, & adding the handles.

I noticed some of you making reference to serging fabric prior to washing.
Whenever I was fabric, I put a small slit with the scissors in each corner and have no problem with raveling.
Try it and let me know how it works for you.

Sorry, but it is not was fabric, but WASH LOL on me.

The only quilting I've ever done on the serger is with Kaye Wood's 6-hour quilt. And I love it for that.