No, my Featherweight is not fragile. It's a little tank. I love it -- I just worry about larger pieces of quilt tops feeding through with those tiny little feed dogs. Once my blocks are pieced on the FW, I do the rest of the assembly on a Kenmore in a cabinet. So, I think your comment has made me realize that what I want is a portable machine that can handle larger chunks of piecework, if that makes sense. Depending on what stage of quilt assembly I'm at, I might want something heavier, but not too heavy to drag to my car... a 301, then... maybe.