before i bought my machine i went to a shop that charged a $50 (Certification Class) then you could rent time for $20 an hour-
i've been doing to the same thing for 8 years now-
the certification class teaches you to thread the machine, wind bobbins - adjust tension- clean- load the quilt---and quilt a practice quilt using the stitch regulator- and without it- using the stylus lazer pointer with a pantograph- using a stencil, doing free motion- marked and unmarked---it is a 4 hour class-
where i first did this the owner insisted you could easily quilt queen sized quilts in 2 hours (something i've never been able to do in 8 years)
i do have a few customers who have taken the class and every now & then come in and quilt a special quilt they want to do all them selves- it generally does wind up costing them less than it would to just pay to me to do it for them- and they enjoy it- they all still do pay me to do quilts for them too- just because they would rather just make tops- but every now & then they have one they want to be able to say they did completely start to finish.