I had used a simple basic Brother machine I bought from Walmart some years ago. After some years, it just wasn't fun to sew on ... more like work. When I decided to learn to quilt, I read a lot of quilt blogs/sites to see what machines others used. Then I went to my local SMD and looked at machines from $500 to $6,000 (my budget was $800). I bought the Juki F600 for $1,000. Yes, I went over my budget ... yes I have more decorative stitches than I will ever use. But I researched this machine for months and determined that I could get all the features I wanted and more with the Juki for several thousands of $'s less than other brands. And I really liked that the Juki was so much quieter than some of the others I tried. Go to a quilt show ... your nearest SMD(s) and try them all.