Quilting is like any other passion/hobby. It can get very expensive or it can be done less expensively. Some can and do hand quilt all, others only some of them, yet other's it is machine quilting all the way. Some people would love to hand quilt, but can't due to physical limitations, but can continue to pursue their passion by using their machines.
AND some can afford to hire Long Armer's and LQS prices, and some can't. We are all in different economic catagories.
But what we all have in common is we love to quilt :D:D:D AND we all find a way to follow this passion, one way or another!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

There are many wonderful patterns out there for lap quilts...they can be as elaborate as a bed quilt, or simple and fast, they are probably used and seen the most, and the easiest to quilt on a machine.
I love to see a family gathered to watch a movie together, everyone snuggled up in a quilt that reflects "them." The differnt colors, prints, styles, patterns, each one was made with love, one stitch at a time.... To me, that is a truly awesome sight to behold :D:D:D

While all the shiny new machines and longarms are wonderful, they are just out of reach for many of us. My machine quilting is not that great. I am the first to admit it. If something is special, I generally take the time to hand quilt. Sometimes I combine hand and machine quilting. I've never sent one out to be done.

I have done plenty of huge quilts, but space limits me to smaller ones nowadays. They are still fun to make, and a challenge to design.

There are plenty of threads here about quilting on a budget. The original quilters made do, and some of us still follow that tradition :)

Naturalmama,

Like the others, I completely understand your concern. When I decided to start sewing again after several years away from it, I was shocked by the prices of fabric, patterns, and thread. I was able to buy patterns I wanted by taking advantage of the sales at JoAnns. I had to either buy fabric on sale (which I thought was still too expensive) or remnants and I also bought thread on sale. Then I got interested in quilting. :|

The more books I read about quilting, the more I wanted to do it, but by then I knew how much it was going to cost. I came up with some extra money and was able to buy most of the tools I needed on sale quite a while ago, but they were still a huge investment. I bought fabric on sale. I can never get exactly the fabric I want; I have to buy what I can afford. However, I haven't bought a walking foot and embroidery foot (to do free motion with) and I haven't bought any batting yet. I was going to make quilts for my granddaughters for Christmas, but finally put them aside because money is just too tight right now and I can't afford the batting or the walking and embroidery feet. We're in the process of getting ready to move and it's going to take every extra penny we can come up with to buy propane for the house we're moving to. I'm hoping to get the feet and batting I need next year, then I'll finish the quilts. I thought about tying them, but I know they'll be laundered a lot and I think they'll hold up better if they're quilted.

I hadn't even thought about sending my tops out to be quilted; it's just not in the realm of possibility right now. I hope I'm able to do my quilting on my old Singer Rocketeer, if not, well, I'm not going to think about that. Hopefully I'll be able to. I might try some hand quilting, but I'm not sure how that will work out since my fingers go numb when I use a needle for more than a few minutes.

Like Moonpi said, some of us (probably many of us) just have to make do like the original quilters did. :-D

I took a machine quilting class for beginners at my LQS and the teacher had quilted plenty of queen and king size quilts on her regular home sewing machine. It's all in how you set it up and lots of practice. If you can't take a class use your 40% off coupon at JoAnn's and get Harriet Hargraves book Heirloom Machine Quilting. The teacher I had was great. The first thing she told us was never listen to anyone who tells you there is only one way of doing things. There are lots of ways to do everything. You just have to find the one that works for you.

Also I bought a Fun and Done pattern and the templates and this is an easy way to make a quilt of any size with any sewing machine. Google Fun and Done quilts.

quilting is a very expensive art form.

i am a very frugal quilter - we live in an expensive part of the country so i have to cut corners where i can.

i shop for deals on fabric (whittles, thousands of bolts, quiltfabriccloseouts) and i have DH build things for me instead of buying them (quilting table, design board).

the most money saving things i've done was

1) learning to do the actual quilting myself

2) dyeing/painting my own fabic. it costs me about $2-3 to make a yard of fabric.

I found that as a beginer I learned so much more by making smaller quilts at first. The variety of designs and methods was a great help at first.
Also if you free motion on the borders only, there is no bulk to shove thru the machine. It is a great way to perfect your free motion quilting.

I thought the Fun and Done technique video was helpful

https://www.baysidequilting.com/store/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=284]https://www.baysidequilting.com/stor...idCategory=284[/url]

and can be done on any machine.

I have only sent out one quilt. It was a special quilt that I finished for an elderly friend whose grandmother had appliqued butterflies many decades ago. I did not feel adequate to quilt it myself.
Every other quilt. I quilted myself on my home sewing machine. Admittedly, my favorite method is still SID (stitch in the ditch) but everyone has been pleased with their quilts, and I know from my own, that they do hold up.

So I can only encourage you to try to quilt them yourself. Many quilters do free motion on their machines too. It just takes practice.

I can appreciate your concern - I found myself in the same boat when I retired. I'm not a hand quilter - I enjoy doing it but it just takes too long - and I'm not very proficient! I've started quilting my own - I began doing 'in the ditch' quilting but now I've started free motion - it took some practice and patience but I enjoy doing it.

Lorretta,
Have you done the cotton theory method? What is the best way to learn this method?