I hand quilted my larger quilts and did walking foot quilting with smaller quilts. And I have combined hand and Domestic Machine quilting on several. I tried FMQ on my domestic but I was never any good at it and it was no fun for me. I was tense and I couldn't do any of the beautiful things I saw pictures of. Hand quilting was so slow for me. It would take me years to complete one but I did enjoy hand quilting.

I had way too many quilts inside of me that needed to get out and if I hand quilted I would only get a fraction made. I had been quilting for about 20 years when I discovered longarms. Didn't even know such a thing existed until I joined this board. The first time I laid hands on one I knew this is what I was meant to do. But before I got my LA I sent a quilt out to Green Fairy (Judi Madsen). She was a member of this board and hadn't gotten really famous yet so I could afford her then :p. I treasure my quilt done by Judi. Now I quilt for myself and others on my LA. I for one am thankful for the ladies who have entrusted their quilts to me. I have met some wonderful people and even made a few dear friends through longarming. And I know there are many LAQ out there that are equally thankful for their clients.

I have never had one LA'd. I do it on my Singer. From needle to inner edge of machine is 7", and from plate base to top is 6". I roll tightly, and do STID, echo, meandering and cross hatching. I've done up to queen size. Out of curiosity, what is the "average" price of having a quilt done? It's been ages since I checked, and at the time it was too costly!

It varies a lot. Variables include:
Region, some areas can command much more than others, so if you aren't willing to ship your quilt out, you will pay the going rate in your area.
What kind of quilting? End to end panto or all over, Semi custom (which I define as an E2E in the main body of the quilt and a different design in the borders, also usually some sort of panto design or CG design), light custom, medium custom or full on heirloom. When you get into full on heirloom which I consider show quality quilting, it seems the current trend, especially for well known quilters like Judi Madsen or Margaret Solomon Gunn, charge by the hour instead of by the square inch.
It seems the "average" cost of an end to end (done by computer or hand guided panto) and a fairly open design runs around 1 1/2 cents to 2 cents per square inch depending on region.
Some places are much less and some are more.

So far, I've quilted all my quilts on my domestic sewing machine.
I don't do FMQ, just SID and straight line or some decorative stitches
but at least I can say I made it from start to finish. :) :thumbup:
That doesn't mean that I will never use a LA, specially for big quilts
which is quite a challenge for me. I've quilted in sections but not a
big fan. Still have to wrestle with the monster at the end. LOL

I quilt all my own quilts on my NX-2000 domestic sewing machine. I love doing the free motion myself and choosing the different designs to use for each part of the quilt. I have never sent a quilt to a long-arm shop, nor have I ever owned one. Machine is too large & budget's too small.

I used to do my own FMQ but haven't done any in almost a year, sadly they just pile up! Seriously I have thought about sending mine out but how do you justify the cost when you own a LA? I keep hoping that things will return to normal and then I will?!? I used to love doing it myself.

I have a sit down machine. But up until a couple years ago, I quilted them all on my little machine even the big quilts. I've never used a longarmer, but it's tempting because my friend has a business.

I have done all of mine on my vintage Singers, including treadling them on the 15-88. I have done STID, walking foot, and ruler work and have been working on my fmq. I am not even sure where to take one to be long-armed, nor how to choose the pattern for that.

Most of mine have been sent out as I have only had a longarm for 5 months. I have done small wall hangings and a small lap quilt on my DSM.

I use my embroidery machine to do the actual quilting.