I bought the same machine 2 years ago for the same reasons you are thinking about and I really love it. I've made several large quilts on it before I tackled learning the embroidery and I still have a lot to learn for that but it is so nice. You can download lots of free 4x4 designs off the internet and they stitch so nice. I used mine recently for baby burp cloths and they were really cute when I finished so go for it! You'll like it. The only problem i had so far was I broke a needle and it did knock the timing out and when I took it to the brother store they would not honor the warranty saying I didn't buy it from her and they do not honor big box merchandise sales, which I found out later from another Brother store that is a bunch a hooey, that Brother would most definately have took care of that free of charge. Bet I never darken that Brother store again! Good luck. It's a great way to learn machine embroidery before you buy an expensive machine.