Check out this thread running simultaneously. Lot's of interesting machine quilting info and some great pictures of a work in progress. http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-58147-3.htm#1409066

Did you get an accurrate measurement after quilting the inside, then doing the borders?This does sound interesting.
marla

I have used my domestic machine to quilt 4-5 king sized quilts and many queen size. It takes a while, but it can be done. I have a Viking 630 and love it.

This is to roselady who was concerned about doing her own quilting after sending many quilts out. DON'T give up trying yourself. I have been sewing, hand quilting, designing and doing upholstery work all my life and guess what, my first attempts at machine quilting were a really big surprise to me. Terrible!!!! Now nearly six years later I have made about 40 quilts and love my BabyLock Quilter's Professional so much that I turned down an offer by my husband to purchase a longarm. I have learned that the more you practice the better you get and every time I start a new project I do some practice sessions just to get in the groove again. I am into thread painting and designing a new wall hanging using a photo I took in the yard recently. I have seen many friends learn to machine quilt in our guild and it is exciting. I practice on the quilts that will be going to our area Womens' shelter as the children don't seem to care how perfect my pattern come out. It helps us both and is good therapy. JC

Our grandmothers, great grandmothers and generations of quilters before these had what we would consider primitive tools and methods to use for quilting. Yet there have been some very beautiful quilts from these times. We are now a generation that needs instant results -- Quilt In A Day!!! I fall into this catagory also. The site that someone references a little later in this post stated that one of the quilts which was quilted on a regular machine was nine months in the making. The quilting is the "heart" of the quilt. Would I have the patience to work for nine months on one project???? It would be difficult, but then I remember how much time many generations before us had to spend in creating their quilts and a lot of those quilts were needed for warmth in the winter. I would love having a long arm machine, but have never been able to justify spending that kind of money, especially in today's economy. Soooooooo as for myself, I will try to remember the patience of my ancestors and be glad that I have an electric sewing machine that I can use in a house with Central heat and air, have good lights, tools, a very comfortable chair and do not have to make quilts to keep the family safe and warm.

My name is Janet and I am from Ohio. Have any of you girls by chance quilted block by block? That you can do on the machine free arm or by quilting foot. I have tried both and since I am fairly new they both do okay. my quilts are not the top knotch but I have made 20 in the last 2 years for my grand kids and they did not see the mistakes even though I did.

I have a Brother 1500 with the wide throat, but have yet to find a stitch in the ditch foot that works weel with it. So I only use it to free motion, and use my Pfaff for everything else.

SuziC. I need to ask if you also do genealogy? The Olinger family line?

I'm relatively new to quilting. I started with a class through our local community extension services. We made an 8 pointed star block. I did it all by hand and I was hooked. I have since made three small quilts but did the piecing and quilting on my sewing machine. I have a Brother CS6000i. It's just like my mechanical Brother, same number of stitch options, but digital. I do all my quilting on the regular sewing machine and will continue to do so. I like to do my own thing and it can be very expensive to send a quilt out to be quilted on a long-arm. Besides, I'm not sure computerized long-arm quilting is really "quilting". I went to a local quilt show a few weeks ago and saw some beautiful quilts. Some were all hand quilted, others all done long-arm. I don't think they should be shown and judged together. Maybe it's just me but computerized quilting just doesn't seem like it should be compared to or judged with hand quilting. This is probably more information than you wanted in an answer to your question, but there it is. I can't be too much of a "quilt snob" because I do my quilting on my machine, but at least I'm doing it, not a computer.

I have one that I quilted mostly by hand and all the others are with my Pfaff 2134.