Hello, welcome from NC. I have a Janome, a Brother 6600 (for the fancy stitches) and a Kenmore that I've been using for 20 years. The Kenmore is my workhorse (weighs a ton), but the Janome is what I take to quilt guild because it's so much lighter to carry. You don't have to go very expensive to have a really good, reliable machine. I agree, save your money for fabric. Once the quilt bug bites you........'nuff said!! Glad you found us.