Btw, I sewed for 20 years on a basic, crappy Singer and never realized until I got the Quest Plus, how much a machine can help or hinder ones best sewing efforts. Suddenly, accurate seam allowances, points, matching points and patterns, ripple-free curves and waveless borders became much easier! Best of luck in your shopping. Test drive thoroughly, haggle HARD, ask for things to be thrown in (like the Quest workbook and set of 9 extra feet), and read the manual and take the machine training classes.

Check out the Janome Horizon 7700 QCP. Several of my friends just got one, and I am green with envy. I have a Pfaff 7570 (which I love dearly) but would buy the Janome Horizon 7700 QCP if I had the money.

Having logged over 4.5 million stitches on my Bernina, guess what gets my vote. They never wear out!

My recommendation is a Janome. You can probably get a 6600P which has a 9 inch throat or maybe the 7700 (Horizon) which has an 11 inch throat. They are made to last, the feet are affordable (read as in NOT with Bernina!) and sew like a dream.

Good luck in your search.

I second that motion, third it, and fourth it(LOL)! I have had my Janome 6600P for 5-6 yrs and it has never given me a moments grief. The Janomes are real workhorses...but, I do drool over the Janome Horizon alot because of the 11" throat.

I have the Janome 7700 also but, nice as it is, I would part with it before any of my Pfaffs.

I have 3 Vikings and highly recommend them!! They also offer classes so you can learn your new toy!

Wow thank you ALL for the great responses!

I found someone local who says he can probably fix my Singer today (I have a commissioned quilt to finish by the end of the month), which is good because the dealer says 2-3 weeks.

Once this quilt is done, I'm taking the money and adding it to my savings for a new machine.

I will go to a few of the local stores and try a bunch of machines, but now I have some place to start! I do think eventually I'd like a vintage machine too, because they are so gorgeous and I think it's true things used to be made better. :)

Thanks again!

It can't get easier then to maintain a vintage Singer machine.
You can get a Singer 301 under $100 and it will be a perfect back up machine to the new one you buy.

I love my Janome 6230, but also love to sew on my vintage machines. One thing about the newer machines, that I miss on the older ones, is the needle up/down feature. Have sewn for many years without it, but now that I have that feature it is the one thing I miss on the older machines. When I went to buy, friends told me that feature, plus the dropping feed dogs were the 2 things to look for. They did right by me!!