Have you checked out Missouri star quilt company? Jenny has many tutorials using precuts and they also offer a l/a service at reasonable price.......
Since this is your newbie stage...consider "quilting by check"

Thanks for the quick replies. I started to research LA quilting services and they are pricey in my area. I think I may start with a quilt top first since I am planning smaller lap quilts. I have been watching QAYG techniques on Youtube and they seem time consuming. I purchased Quilt as You Go Made Modern book and I am intrigued with her method. She still runs the entire quilt through the machine at the end to stitch in the ditch. Has anyone tried this method?

This book was recommended by a poster and I am so glad I got it. I quilt all my quilts on my sewing machine. I use spray basting.

http://www.charlottewarrandersen.com...line-at-a-time

I'm doing a king size quilt now using Marti Mitchell's Quilting in Sections technique which is similar to QAYG but uses larger sections. I've found it work well for quilting on a DSM for those of us who don't have enough experience to work with a large quilt on our regular machine.

I checked out having it quilted for me but it was going to be pricey and this is a quilt for our bed which means the 3 dogs will be on it all the time. I didn't feel that I wanted to pay a lot of money to have it quilted for me.

Welcome to quilting, Butters2013! I struggled with this question when I made my first quilt, but then I reasoned, correctly, that my quilting would get better over time just as my piecing would. I would hate to be an expert piecer and then "ruin" my quilts with my inexperienced quilting, so I decided to start practicing both at the same time. Really, by the time you are finished with your first quilt, you will have gotten the hang of it. Carry on without fear!

I have done both and prefer the full sandwich to quilt. The QAYG from individual blocks seems a bit stiff in the seams to me. However, there is a way to finish a quilt QAYG in long sections. You may want to check into that.

I would suggest you try a small project from start to finish on your machine. Maybe the size of a doll quilt or doggie blanket. Knowing you aren't under any pressure should make it more fun. If that goes well, do a larger size, maybe baby quilt size. That will give you an idea of how you can maneuver the quilt through the machine.
If you don't have scent sensitivities, get a can of 505 spray to make basting the quilt sandwich easy. (I can't smell it but some folks can)
You could buy a charm pack, 42 (I think) 5" squares, and just sew them together. Missouri Star has them on sale for as little as 1.99 sometimes. Or go buy 5 or 6 fat quarters from Walmart, and play with them.
I'm all for easy!

Welcome! Funny you should ask... Only today I was sandwiching a throw size quilt to quilt for donation, AND quilting 12.5" blocks to be QAYG. It was so much fun to quilt those blocks... it's a sampler quilt so each block is different and I got to play with lots of curved walking foot designs. I had 30 blocks and got half of them quilted in no time! I could have done them all today but I used up all my batting.

I am one of the people who posted a pictorial tute on the board for joining these blocks. I don't do any hand sewing. And it goes together pretty fast.

If you are only making a throw size quilt you can probably quilt it in one piece on your machine, no problem. Or, if you want to play with QAYG, check out my tute on joining the blocks.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...l-t283918.html

This works well for me. You might begin by quilting the rows or just half of quilt and then adding the sections together until you feel comfortable doing a whole lap quilt.

I think you would enjoy trying to quilt your own quilts vs paying a long arm quilting service because your quilts are throw size. Starting with a throw size is a great way to learn. If you wish to try quilting the top, one way is to divide the quilt into 4 equal sections by drawing a cross. (painters tape or 1/4" tape sold at sewing centers can be used if your fabric is too busy to see the marks). Quilt one section at a time, keeping the bulk of the quilt to your left of the needle. Lines can go horizontal in 1 section, and vertical in another. You are the designer, so you can choose.

Qayg Method: The link below has a video on the QAYG method that I just used. It is fantastic. *1 change I made was that I did not use fusible batting. I used my batting and spray basted the quilt top row to the batting and then the backing fabric to the batting, while making my quilt row sandwhich. Watch the video and/or the photo tutorial with written steps to explain the details. If your blocks are small, you can sew several rows together and then make your row quilt sandwich.

https://www.candiedfabrics.com/2014/...go-no-sashing/

Last idea: Rag Quilts are a great first quilt because the quilt is done after sewing the blocks together. The Missouri Star Quilt Company has a video as well as many others on u-tube. Good Luck and have fun!