I'm new to quilting, having done 2 lap quilt tops & 1 king size quilt top. I've taken all 3 to a local LAQ. As a newbie, I didn't want to take the chance of messing up the quilts after all of the hard work I'd done on the tops. It is expensive, but worth every penny IMHO. I love the process of cutting/ironing/sewing/watching the pattern grow. But wrestling a king size quilt attaching the binding to the front was enough for me. No way can I manage all of that material/batting/weight to FMQ on my sewing machine. I wish I could do it all myself, but I consider it 2 separate sets of skills. Sort of like painting a room vs painting a picture. Both are painting, but completely different.