I am blessed to be able to have any machine I want and none of mine cost me over $1000. I think the most expensive one is the Brother 1500 I use for machine quilting and piecing and I won that thing. LOL. It sells new for about $500 - $700 now. 95% of my sewing is straight line sewing so a machine with all the extra stitches just goes to waste. I like needle up/down, auto thread cutter, and needle threader. That's all I use and the Brother 1500 has them all. For decorative or zig zag stitches, buy a used older machine. If you are like most quilters you won't use the decorative stitches much at all.