Domestic machines, from very basic treadles, to highly sophisticated and sometimes temperamental computerized ones, are all good for piecing. Some require a little bit more effort and muscle tone than others, but they can all piece a marvelous quilt. And yes, they can all quilt that top, no matter how small the throat. When there is will, there is way. Always.
From the very first time you picked up a pen and paper your brain and your muscles were conditions to do one thing - move the implement, the pencil, over the surface, the paper. We use the same mindset when we wash the dishes. We move the sponge over the surface of the pot, we do not move the pot around the sponge. When we vacuum our carpets, we move the vacuum cleaner around, the carpet does not move around the vacuum cleaner. We are conditioned to move the tools, not the items that are worked on.
One day you decide to tackle that pile of tops and quilt them yourself, and the world as you know it gets turned upside down. When you quilt your top on the domestic machine you are in essence moving the paper and the pencil remains stationary. Everything you learned from the very first days of your life goes out the window. Your brain is fighting you hard because it is not conditioned to do things backwards. Did not think about that did you, when you started banging your head against the wall because you could not do a simple meander stitch. So cut yourself some slack, take a deep breath (glass of wine and a slab of chocolate:) and try again. Our brains are noting but pliable. You will get into the groove and it will become your second nature, in time. Quilters all around the world are doing it, and producing marvelous quilts, even winning Best in Show titles in major quilt shows. So, yes, it can be done.
Time goes by and you are now all confident with you domestic machine, you are meandering and pebbling, and the quilting world is your oyster. And then, on a lark, you decide to go to a big quilt show and after driving five hours in snow and sleet, you find yourself in front of a long arm machine begging to be (ab)used. You grab it, like your life depends on it, and start stitching. Hours later, while you are stuck in traffic on your back home, it hits you. Long arm machine is like a giant pencil moving across your quilt. Wow, what a concept, you do not need to do things backwards anymore.
Many long armers will tell you to draw the designs on paper over and over again until you are ready to puke. It is muscle memory, and also you are training your brain. If you can draw it, you can quilt it. It is that simple. Do not obsess about not having any talent for drawing. Talent is important, but it is not essential. It is practice that makes perfect. I could not draw a feather to save my life, and I detested them just because I could not quilt them. Now my feathers are as good as anybody's. The fact that I destroyed half the rainforest worth of paper drawing the darn feathers is beyond the point. I did not know how much I loved my long arm until I lost it. It had to go back because it was misbehaving.
So yes, you can quilt anything on your domestic machine, and you can be really, really good at it. But if you have that space, and the disposable income, do yourself a favor and think about a long arm machine. If you decide to go down that road, you may also want to buy a stock in a paper mill, because you are going to need lots of paper for practicing.
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