I am new to Quilting but have been sewing since childhood. I have a Singer 401A slant shank machine. It was made in 1956 which makes it 13 years older than me. I have sewn all sort of fabric and no machine quilting yet but multiple layers of fabrics. My DH got caught sewing leather on it and it is still kicking. It is all metal and has taken much less to maintain than my friends machines over the years. I had considered getting a newer machine now that I have the time and space to tackle quilting, but after lots of research decided to stick with mine. It has many different stitches built in It also has top hat cams for special stitches, but in all my projects over the years have very seldom used them. I love it and have realized through all my research that it was my first machine and has so many memories that there is no way I could part with it. When my grandmother bought it new it was the top of the line and she made a very wise purchase.