I'm new to quilting and I just finished sewing the quilt. I have the batting and backing ready to be attached, my questinon is : Do I do the quilting myself on a regular sewing machine or do I send it out to get hearts quiltied on it plus a name? If I send it out ( which is really what I want to do) where do I sent it and how much does that cost? I haven't joined any quilt clubs yet . Can anyone help me ???

if you do not feel comfortable, send it out. there are people on this board who long arm quilt. i have always either hand quilted or use my regular ol machine to quilt. but, the sooner you try machine quilting yourself, the faster you will become good at it! if it is a small quilt, better yet to practice yourself.

Hi Sue-
I think your answer -- wo whether to quilt it yourself or send it out-- depends on your own heart and your budget. It is always more economical to quilt it yourself. If you have never done that, you will need to practice on some plain fabric sandwiches and get proficient. But you definitely could learn how, and it's a lot of fun.

I've sent you a Private Message also.

Please let us see a pic once you get the quilt finished.

I am new to quilting and am really anxious to try FMQ. My first quilt I sent out and it looked very nice. I did not know I should wash it before giving it as a gift. I obviously did not belong to this wonderful Quilting Board at the time or I would have known.
I am getting ready now to FMQ a wall hanging. I have been practicing and it isn't as hard as I thought it might be. For very simple stipple I must add................don't get me wrong I am not sawing that all the FMQing that I have been seeing on this board looks easy. I sit and study some of the pictures and am just at awe over what I am seeing. Some of you quilters doing absolutely beautiful work. It will be a long while before I can do that nice of a job.
But in the mean time I am going to try doing small simple patterns on small projects.

You must be talented and gifted if you picked up FMQ!! Good for u! Show us pics!!

Around here literally all LQS have cards for long arm quilters advertising their services.

Local quilting guilds or groups often know where to go as well.

aku