Thanks for your input. Almost everyone is saying the same thing...to go to a dealer and check out what the have, take notes and take classes or let the dealer work with me. That is all great advise. So, off to a dealer I go. I'm just starting to quilt, hand stitching at this time. My next venture is to hand applique. Seems I'm going to lean more toward hand stitching than machine work but I still want a great machine so that when I am ready to machine sew, I'll be ready. Again, thanks so much. Everyone has been sooo helpful.