About 10 years ago I bought a cheap Brother machine at WalMart for my daughter, who wanted to make purses and skirts. We sewed a few things on it, but didn't really use it too much. When she went to college, she took it with her, but didn't use it much, so brought it back home. About 7 years ago I started quilting, and you guessed it, I was sewing on that cheap little Brother machine. It was so lightweight that it would move around on the table when my quilt tops got past lap size, just from the weight of the fabric. It sounded like I don't know what....pound, pound, pound. You could tell it was cheap, cheap, cheap. Well, after 2-1/2 years of quilting, that little machine was totally worn out. I took it to be serviced because it wouldn't feed the fabrics right. The repairman told me all the gears were worn down. Enter another Brother machine, this one cost about $200. Again, lightweight and noisy. I used it for about 2 years, then I wanted a better one, so DH bought me another Brother, again about $200, but with a bunch of decorative stitches. It works fine, but there is still the issue of dancing on the table that I don't like.
Enter my introduction to vintage sewing machines. Wow!! My eyes were opened!! The vintage machine gurus on this board totally won me over with their descriptions of the wondrous talents of the vintage & antique machines. I found my 301a first, and I was completely enamored from the first time I used her. She was a mess and missing parts, etc. when I got her, but it was love at first sight!! Since then I have accumulated 8 more, and I love each one.
I still occasionally use my modern Brother machine, but not nearly as much as I use my vintage girls. I have bought each of my oldest 2 grandaughters vintage machines. Whenever I don't need my machines any more, I know my youngest daughter and my oldest grandaughter will be figuring out who gets which one, as they love them too.
I'm not done collecting yet. Just being more selective now due to space limitations, as well as Evil Eye issues from DH!! LOL