I have tried quite a few machines, from my mom's old White from the 50's to New Home, Janome, and Juki. I now have two Berninas and a Juki. I found my Janome and every White that I have tried to be finicky about thread. They didn't like you to use fine bobbin threads and use something else on top, particularly when doing free motion quilting. Also, they didn't like to sew over heavy things like top stitching over the bulk of a seam in heavy denim. I had a sear's machine that I got in the 80's (which I was told was made by New home,) that you could do just about anything with. But by far my favorites are my Berninas. I have a 180 and have used it on silks in a wedding dress to just about everything else to include indoor outdoor fabric for patio furniture. I liked my 180 so much and was doing so much free motion quilting and thread work that I bought a 440 with a stitch regulator. The 180 has a different bobbin mechanism than the 440, and has a prettier stitch for top stitching and garment making on a variety of fabrics. I now just keep the 440 set up for free motion thread work. I don't think I would go away from Bernina's at this point since when I am in sewing mode they get an awful lot of use between cleanings and just keep going and going and going.