I wouldn't trade mine for piecing, but I wouldn't trade my other machines for what I use them for either. I have my mom's Elna Supermatic, and if I could keep only one machine, that would be it, but I also love my Bernina 830 Record that is about 40 years old. The Elna stays set up all the time for the stitch I like to use on bindings, and the Bernina has an excellent walking foot for straight line quilting. If I want to do FMQ, I use the Bernina, but the Elna does that, too. I think the throat area is a half inch smaller than the Bernina's.
I have old eyes, but haven't noticed that the FW is any harder to thread than the other machines. If you hold a white card behind the needle's eye you can see it much better.
If someone is going to buy the machine for you make sure they understand that you mean a vintage Featherweight in working order. I think there is or was a modern machine that went by that name, but isn't the same thing at all. Ideally you should try the machine to see if it's a good fit for you. Nobody else can really predict that. I will say that I have noticed that people who do piecing demos at quilt shows almost always have FW's. They can't be beat for reliability.