Please tell her not to feel discouraged! I have a ten year old $250 Janome from Sears that I do all my sewing on. It doesn't feed quite straight, it like to jam up at the most inopportune moment, the 1/4 inch measurement is off by at least an 1/8 of an inch, and just a few weeks ago it decided it was going to keep sewing when I released the presser foot.
I've learned to adapt to all its quirks and we have a love/hate relationship but I still love to quilt.