Nana,
Take a quilt sandwich to a dealer that carries several brands, sit down and sew. If you are quilting, the Janome 6600 and Janome 8900 are dreams to sew on. The 8900 is the newest model, has Accufeed, 11.5" harp space, 9mm decorative stitches )beautiful for décor and children' clothes), quiet running, pop up throatplate for changing to single hole, tells you that you can't sew a zig zag or decorative stitch if you forget to change the plate back.....The 6600 is a real workhorse....has the accufeed (no more bulky walking foot), separate motor for winding bobins,,..check them out. I paid $2200 for 8900...some dealers are selling for $2000. I just paid $1299 for a new 6600. There are great machines out there for half of what the Babylocks are. I do buy Babylock sergers....they are the best.