Wow! It's been a long time since I have sewn anything except an occasional mend. I've done alot of cross stitch and crochet in the past years. I started my hand stitch hexagon quilt two years ago but, of course, that hand stitched. Since my hex quilt top is almost complete I started searching around for my next project and even though my sewing machine is over 30 years old, Nelly Bell runs like a dream. However, Nelly doesn't have the bells and whistles that I'm learning I might need in order to start a quilting hobby. Soooo, I've been looking around, shopping, searching the web for suggestions for a new machine. I've learned alot. I never realize that sewing machines have hundreds of features that are specific to quilting. Amongst the important features, I'm learning, that I should look for on a new machine, IS the speed control. One of my projects that I have going now is a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I'm going to machine applique and I think the speed control is going to be a great asset to making my quilt look really nice. I'm really new to quilting and I'm learning alot from the folks here on the QB. I thank you all so much for all of the infomation, tips and tricks I've learned over the past month. So, YES! I do believe speed control is a very good idea. If your machine isn't running fast enough for your particular project, simply increase the speed control...I think speed control is great! ! !