One of our LQS's does teach you how to use her Gammil, for $45 to teach you how, which she is with you the whole time, so you get excellent instruction. Then, you rent the machine for $24.50 an hour. I have done a few on her machine, and I was able to quilt a full size, with the pinning the quilt on the machine and just a basic stipple, and it was just about 1 hr. 15 minutes. It went just smooth. I now own my own longarm, an APQS 2005 with all the extras, and I bought it just for ME. I do NOT quilt for other people, other then charity quilts for Children's hospital in Seattle. Some friends, but very few. My favorite part of this whole thing is the time pinning the quilts on. I actually love that part. Making it straight, smoothing to keep it flat, and then the actual quilting after it is loaded. I got this for an exceptional price from a quilt shop going out of business. They only had it in service for 3 years, but it was a ROUGH 3 years. They rented it out, and did NOT take care of it, so I am now treating this baby with loving kindness to put her back into pristine condition. Do I like what I do??? I absolutely love it and I would never hesitate to tell anyone not to buy a longarm. Get the one you can afford. Then, when you get good at what you are doing, then move up. BUT...buy what you know you will love to use each and every time.