I've had my 6600 for 3 yrs now. I considered myself a "sewer' when I bought my machine. Several things were "must haves" for me...auto threading, lots of decorative stitching and a walking foot (which I really wasn't familiar with). I also do not like spending a lot of money but I also did not want to buy a machine and outgrow it in a year. So I took a deep breath and got the machine I wanted. I must say I have not regretted it one time. It is workhorse and I have sewn many many hours on it. Some problems of course but it has always been "operator error". Didn't get much instruction on my machine, which I wish I had. Manual is marginal and doesn't really cover much. Suggest you make a quilt sandwich and try every single stitch (mark the mode/stitch #, length and width. I refer to mine a lot. Have also learned a great deal on this board about quilting (general stuff) as well as the yahoo 6600 group (more specific stuff). So good luck and remember to take a big breath!