I am wondering if there are others out there like me who have quilt tops DONE but do not have the machine to quilt them nor the money to pay to have others quilt them. I bought the supplies to give hand quilting a go, with the prices of fabric going up as well now I honestly have no idea how I will afford to quilt. It is actually a quite depressing thought. I read other ladies saying they have enough to last years...gosh I think I have enough fabric to last MAYBE 3 months if I stretch it. I cant imagine paying to have it quilted on top of that. What are you guys going to do? Pile up or learn to hand quilt?

I have never paid to have a quilt quilted. Though I have one I am doing for my bed a super queen sized one that I am considerng sending out. I can't afford to send mine all out.
I machine quilt all of my quilts on a regular machine. They are quilted a little more simply than if they were done on a long arm, but i have finished many queen size as well as smaller

Why can't you quilt it by machine yourself? What makes your machine unable to do it?

I do have quite a pile of finished tops waiting for me to get them quilted.
I am not going to hand quilt, I do not have the time.
many of us quilt our quilts on regular sized machines. Most of the one's I have quilted I have either stitched in the ditch or have done diagonal quilting across the quilt in lines.
You ought to re-think about quilting on your sewing machine!!

Well, I know an awful lot of people machine quilt on thier regular home sewing machine, and get along just fine. I personally am not very good at it. I have hand quilted almost all of my quilts. Hand quilting is not difficult to learn, but time consuming. Then there is the option of tying the quilt. If you have a quiltling buddy, you could have a "tying party" You might also consider the quilt-as-you-go method. I have done a few of those. I have never sent a quilt out to be done, and never will, but I respect those who do. And I surely do respect the quilters who do the quilting. I have seen some beautiful quilting done by them. You CAN do this. Just find what works for you. Good luck.
Humbird

My machine is a really cheap one from walmart without a.. walking foot? I think that is what someone told me I need to quilt. I did quilt a baby blanket for my niece but it was tiny and just did stitch in the ditch and it turned out fairly well I think lol. Most of the quilt tops I make are queen or very nearly anyhow. My family doesnt really use the smaller ones very much. Well no one except me I use lap quilts when I watch tv since I am always chilly.

humbird I am a part time student and stay at home mom so I DO have quite a bit of free time (well more than most people anyhow) I just do not have anyone to learn from and have been quite intimidated by trying it but I think economy is forcing my hand (no pun intended) and I will try and give it a go!

I would love to have all the tops I have made quilted by a long armer but could never afford it. I just do the best I can on my machine. I have had a couple special quilts done and it wasn't to expensive. It was $64 for two throw sized quilts.

Momto 4..Walmart machines are nice too. I started on one and still use one so I don't have to change out my walking feet. And you can get a walking foot for it too. Read your maual and check. Joann's has several. I have at least 40+ quilt tops I machine quilted and 12 that I hand quilted. I send the ones for machine quilting to be done by friends and pay 45.00 per top. However, I am a handquilter and I do all my own. Word got out so I get called to handquilt for people all the time and I do. I charge according to how big, the amount of stitching I need to do to make it beautiful..and then I consider who it is for. My seniors cannot afford a lot and the young ones with kids can't. You do what you can and when you can. You can take an online machine quilting lesson and there is a good book for it to. Sorry this is so long. Take a smaller quilt and try to machine quilt it. You do not have to have a walking foot. Years ago we did with what we had. Now they want us to spend more money. Happy quilting

Hi Momto4, I also have a WM brother machine that I paid $59.00 for 2 yrs ago and I use it for everything, it is my favorite machine. I to am starting to give quilting a try. So far just SID but over time I think I will be able to try other styles. Go ahead and try it. I too do not have a walking foot because I can not afford it. Just use what you have and go for it. You will never know if it will work for you if you don't try.