what is the most important thing to you when sending a quilt to a quilting service? Is it important that it is done on a Gammill or just that the person doing the quilting knows what they are doing? Communication? Timing? Cost?

any particular brand of longarm machine is only as good as its operator. Some people have a natural talent and others do lots and lots of practice to become good, base your desicion on thier work not thier machine.

Agree with ss, its the operator ,not the machine that makes a good job on the quilt.I like to see pics of previous work & judge the examples of work. pab

How can you tell the difference if a top was quilted on a Gammill, APQS, A-1, Bailey or even a DSM or any other machine?

I agree it's the quality of the work, and seeing examples of previous work, WOM, and if I like what I see in the examples, do they smoke/pets around my quilt.

I don't have anything against pets, but I allegeric to cats, and we all know how cat hairs can get into things (not to pcik on cat owners, because dog hair does the same). I had a pet, RIP but he was an outside pet, and had hair on my clothes when I went out to feed him, so I know how pet hair can cling. Shoot my hair is bad enough!!!

Those are my only concerns if I would take a quilt to someone. I have my own mid-arm so I don't have to take mine anywhere.

Quality of workmanship plus non-smoking and pet-free environment are
most important. Getting photos of previously finished quilts really helps.
Time is not of concern.

I've never sent one out for longarming, but my priority would be to find out what classes this person has taken and what experience they have. You can have a computerized longarm delivered and have no experience, which is fine. But I wouldn't want to pay the same rate compared to someone with real talent and years of experience under their belt.

The manufacture of the machine is no more important on the longarm side as it is on the piecing side. Its all about the experience/skill level of the operator. Demonsrating the quality of the finished work is important when I make my choice for who does my work. I measure quality by the consistant stitch lenght, the overall evenness and fill of the quilting pattern, the appearence of the backside ( knots etc), comitment to a delivery schedule, willness to work me to determine the best stitch design to compliment the piecing these are just a few things I use to determine my LongArm Pro. I have known many a piecer with high end machines who's work was ... well ... leaving room for much improvement.
Cost is a factor , but not on the top of the list. I look at is the cost resonable for what is expected.

Communication is important. I first used a long-arm quilter that didn't followup on a phone call TWICE. The next one totally ignored my LONG note about what I wanted. We talked, but I assumed she had read this note and, therefore, didn't repeat everything that was already noted. For instance, I wanted the pieced back centered over the front - and called her when it wasn't done this way. She told me it was "impossible." I doubt that seriously. Will never use her again, though the quilting was nice.

Quality first, then communication, cost and turnaround time. I'd want to see previous work or photos to determine quality. It would be best if the long arm machine has a stitch regulator since that improves the quality of the stitches.

It's very important that the person you speak to is the one doing the quilting. Some places hire people to run their machines but they aren't the ones you speak to. I also don't like pantographs or machine designs. I want my quilts to look like a person quilted it. Guess that's one reason that I finally invested in my machine.