I always have to laugh when I see posts like yours. The modern day quilter seems to have totally abandoned the art of hand quilting. Even one of my guilds that is running a begginer workshop listed as the final step they would teach as preparing your quilt for the long armer. I am predominately a hand quilter but do make approxamately 20 simple Linus quilts a month. I make them of child friendly prints on one side and flannel on the other. I then actually machine quilt them about 4" apart in vertical rows, with a simple decorative stitch and finish up by sewing a line of stitching around the outside edge to create a binding effect. I make the quilt sandwhich by the envelope or pillowcase method where I sew around three sides of the sandwhich with my serger and then birth the quilt before doing the machine quilting with a decorative stitch. I own two Bernina's a basic 200 that is light enough weight to take it to workshops and on retreat etc. For my major sewing I purchased a used Bernina artista 185 by trading in the Bernina 1260 I had purchased 20 years ago when I worked for a dealer. It had cost me $1800 with my employee discount. The Artista can also have an embroidery module but I didn't want it. I have two stand alone embroidery machines and a Singer Featherweight I found at a yardsale for just $20. I sometimes use it for piecing.
Shop around until you find a machine that suits your needs and pocketbook. I have to have the needle down capacity and I love the Bernina knee lift which makes it easy to always keep your hands on the quilt while you are working. I couldn't live without my ability to sew even a few decorative stitches. The one I use the most for my Linus quilts is just a soft wavy pattern that looks great with varigated thread.