I have the Singer 301 and it's a perfect for piecing and machine quilting. It's not fussy about what type of thread I use either. I have the high speed Brother 1500 and I use it for piecing and machine quilting my bigger quilts. Some days I like to sew on one machine then the other. You can't go wrong with a real Bernina, no matter what model if you have a dealer close by. I would suggest looking at the high end Kenmores. They are really nice for not a fortune invested.