I don't do large quilts because I find them too hard to handle on my home machine even tho it has a larger throat/bed than most machines. It is hot to have on my lap / draped over my arms or shoulders, it aggravates my neck where I have degenerative disc disease/osteoarthritis and cervical herniated disc.

When I win that ever-illusive lottery, I will get a long arm machine!

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

Oh, I do want to try a QAYG and then if I find that I enjoy that process I might give it a go on a large quilt.

Regarding renting a long arm, check with the local quilters and compare prices etc. Most likely they will be pretty close cuz they want to be competitive with each other.

My local long arm quilters and LQS that will rent their setup all charge for an hour of instruction on how to use their long arm AND all charge a minimum of 5 hrs even if it only takes 2 or 3 hours. But the local gal that has 2 setup in her house charges less than the LQS. And she will let you use it for an additional 3 hrs beyond the 5 hr minimum charge for free. So 8 hours of quilting on a 5 hr charge...and you can do more than one quilt.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

I have a king size bed and I do machine quilts for it. I make them in sections, quilt and then put together.

Have you looked at patterns for quilted bed scarfs? They seem to be the new thing to do and look great

I know having a huge mountain of fabric there to be quilted, can seem to be insurmountable non-the-less once it is done the reward is nothing like I have ever experienced in my life! Now I am not saying that I wouldn't love a long arm, however the $$'s just don't seem to grow on trees!

I guess that what I am trying to say is make what makes you truly happy!

I'm with you. I started hand quilting a full size vintage quilt top about 5 yrs ago, it's still not done. I make full and king size quilts and tie them in each and every little corner. They look nice and I'm able to then get them done in a reasonable amount of time.

This is a beautiful quilt. I love stars and can't pass up anyone I see. Love the colors too.

My first quilt was a queen size! I could NOT quilt that on my machine so I learned how to hand quilt in a hurry. I have made several others since then, and anything over a twin I use a QYAG method. I have done some machine quilting as well, and find I REALLY miss doing the hand quilting, and most of my designs on the machine are straight-line designs, whereas I am making beautiful roses with my hand quilting. I have not attempted the FMQ as of yet. I am making a queen size quilt right now that will have a combination of both machine and hand quilting.

I am looking forward to the day when I can send at least one quilt "out" to be quilted as the work is SOOOOO beautiful. :D

I have too many small items. I make mostly large things now. I am sooooooooo blessed. My daughter gave me her quilting machine when she bought her new Gammel. I sew tops and my DH is the quilter!

I have done machine quilting with my regular sewing machine. I am not really good at it but I do it sometimes. I will do hand quilting and that can be done when watching a movie. But I do like making larger quilts than small ones. I haven't made lap-robes and I don't care for wall hangings and I love making quilts. I have one in progress right now: Basket of Flowers by Marian Shenks. While I am working on my blocks I am thinking how I want to quilt it. I will probably know when I get to that point. It is turning out pretty so far. I have others in mind I want to do. I can't wait!!

I was just thinking, sometimes you can find someone with a quilting machine that will quilt a large quilt for you at an inexpensive price. I know most are expensive but once in a while there is someone that does it just for the joy of it and little money.