I think there is an attitude in general about the type of machine you buy. Seems to me that if you don't have a top of the line Bernina (and not too many of us can afford that) then you are part of the lower echelon. Who cares? If I am correct, I think that Ricky Tims still sews his quilts on his Mom's (or could be his Grandma's) old treddle Singer sewing machine and I certainly think he does a pretty good job - don't you? I have a Janome myself that I bought at a Quilt Festival and I just love it - so much so that I bought a smaller version to take to classes with me. My one complaint is that I do not have a place less than about 100 miles where I can take my machines to have them serviced. Of course my local Bernina dealer won't (or maybe can't) do this for me even though they serviced all makes of machines before they became exclusively Bernina. I really hope you enjoy your Brother - I know you will and as someone else said you can get a bunch of information on line and from the great quilting books out there. Also - join your local quilt guild as I am sure they will have some really good classes and it won't matter what machine you have.