Mandy, I recently took a machine quilting class at a shop that specializes in Bernina machines. The owner repeatedly asked me if I wanted to borrow 1 of their machines vs. bringing my own..NOOO...I took "Sally" (my 1970 something Singer) and proudly used her all day. Everyone else had to work with their Bernina's and a lot of them wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to use them!
Don't get me wrong, 1 of my goals is to someday own 1 of those nice Bernina's, but I just can't seem to justify it right now.