I suggest she visit a Bernina dealer and look at their lower end machines. Often they have trade ins that make them much more affordable. I have a 230 that cost less than $1000. Since there is a lot more plastic in it the weight is much less than my Artista 185. The only drawback to the smaller machines is that the harp space is also smaller which makes it hard to machine quilt anything larger than crib size. As a handquilter that isn't a problem for me. I do machine quilt at least 10 Linus size quilts a month and it would work for that. Purchasing a sewing machine from a dealer usually means that they also service and stand behind their machines.