We are all quilters with different areas of expertise.

The long armer wouldn't have anything to quilt if we didn't piece the top together. I am a quilter. I hand quilted a wall hanging and a table top quilt. I have machine quilted two baby quilts - very primitive. I send my quilts to my LAQ, but I am a quilter. She finishes them for me. I pay her. But if it wasn't for me and people like me, she would be out of a job.

I say both!

You should try it at least once. I was real hesitant to send mine out, too, but as it got harder to wrangle the fabric under the needle with larger quilts, I did. I hated to give up part of the process in making my quilt, but I'm here to tell you, not having to baste it and getting it back all quilted and ready for binding was like Christmas morning!

Sew together - Piecer (top maker)
Piece, layer & quilt by hand - Hand Quilter
Piece, layer & quilt by machine - Machine Quilter
Piece & send out to others - Professionally Quilted by someone else (they get credit for quilting) & you for piecing.

I agree with jbj137.

I would have to mail it. No one around here does any quilting that I know of. Or if they do, they keep it a pretty good secret. lol. It would help if we had a local shop but the only one that was nearby closed.

Nope, I am the quilter because I put all those hundreds of little pieces together and make a beautiful quilt and all the credit goes to me, period! The LAQ, is just that and is not a quilter, I pay her and it ends there. Having said all that, I am also a LAQ and I will take no credit for putting the three pieces together, I am paid for that. No one should take a credit on a quilt you pieced together. The credit could never be equal.

Now if I painted a beautiful canvas and took it to the framers to frame, is he entitled to credit on my masterpiece? Of course not. IMHO

I agree - both are quilters.

But wait. LAQ=Long Arm Quilter so she is a quilter, right? I'm officially confused. The way I see it, you made a beautiful quilt top and you both worked together to make a beautiful quilt. A top alone does not a quilt make. Or something like that.