I am a Janome girl and used them when I was teaching littles how to sew/quilt. I used the 5812 that you can get from Hancock's for $179 right now. They go on sale often and can be picked up for $139 or so my only complaint about it is that it didn't come with the 1/4 inch foot but the 1/4 can be marked out so wasn't a deal breaker. I hope you can find a machine that is easy to tote around.
I had to carry 5 of these machines in and out of our class building once a week so light weight was a huge bonus.
Tammy