Just steer clear of big-box stores and to get a machine that will hold up to all you want to do..plan on buying from a dealer. Brother/Babylock are excellent if dealer models. Bernina is good too you just have step way up the line to get some of the features you will find in other brands as one example: automatic thread-cutter is very easy to get used to. Brother/Babylock, Janome/Elna and Bernina at the $800 -$1200 price points consistently are safe bets. Viking and Pfaff also worth a look and the Juki F600 really gets rave reviews...there are lots of happy owners of that! So you'll have some fun exploring to do to pick the one you like best!