I bought a used Pfaff 2170 from my great dealer in Tucson 3 or 4 years ago. I wanted it mainly to quilt embroidery designs on quilts. It's a nice machine, but the throat limits the size of the designs you can use. I took all the machine and embroidery classes the dealer offers and learned a LOT. Last year, I upgraded to a Pfaff Creative Sensation, and I love it. It comes with 3 hoops, and I bought the giant 240 X 300 hoop that requires splitting designs (I haven't used it yet!). I spent the 4 months of my winter in Tucson trying to make every mistake possible (I learn best by making mistakes). The gals at the store were great teachers, and when I took my CS to CT, I was feeling pretty confident. I only had on
e problem, and they were able to talk me through it on the phone.
It's really important to understand how stabilizers work with different fabrics. Most of the time I use a medium weight tear-away, but there are reasons for having others - especially the iron-on, sticky, mesh (for knits) and dissolvable. You don't need stabilizers when you use the embroidery machine to quilt designs on a quilt.
The CS resizes any embroidery design easily. This is a great feature, and it's idiot-proof!
I have 5D software, and I use it for editing designs before transferring them to the machine. I can also create my own designs with it. I've taken lessons offered by my dealer AND by Mr. Patience - Tim Frost. He has a web site, and he wrote the lesson books for learning how to use 4D and 5D software.
My favorite ready-made embroidery designs are Anita Goodesign and John Deer. I go to their classes when my dealer brings them to Tucson - usually every winter. The classes are fun, and I always learn something at them. They both have beautful embroidery designs. They have samples of every design displayed, and it's hard to resist buying every single one!