i'm all the time telling people you do not need an expensive computerized machine to create beautiful quilts! and the brother machines are good, inexpensive machines...nothing wrong with that...and (all those people) in the class with the fancy machines...did you ask any of them how much they actually (use) the extra features? i have an expensive viking; came with the embroidery unit...lots of special capabilities...i don't think any of us have embroidered anything with it in at least a year...and an occassional decorative stitch may be used...but basically...98% of the time all it does is a basic straight or zigzag stitch...big time overkill! don't be ashamed of owning an inexpensive basic machine...as long as it does what you need it to do that is all that matters :thumbup: after all--look how many people are quilting with feather-weights---can't get much more basic than that and certainly no computers...they didn't even have that word when they were made...and they work well. my granddaughter has a brother machine that is as old as her...and works just fine...and she is very proud of it!...and at the sewing school we had students who would fight over getting to use their (favorite) brother machines...they never wanted to 'deal' with my machine