Does anyone know of a Cyber Monday sale on embroidery machines? I would like to be able to make permanent labels for my quilts and have been thinking about getting a small embroidery machine for years, but I am always held back by so many unknowns.
For example, is a 4x4 hoop area big enough to make attractive and informative quilt labels? Or would I be better off spending twice as much to get a bigger hoop size?
I am looking at the Brother SE-400 and the Brother PE-525 online. The former is a combo sewing/embroidery machine so I would also get some stitches I would like to have for machine binding. My Bernina 1230 is a great machine, but it doesn't have the wavy kind stitch I would like to use on binding so my little "blips" in alignment are less noticeable. I haven't compared the features closely, so not sure what I would be giving up in the embroidery only machine in order to get the decorative stitches.
I will soak up any and all advice.
Edit: I just had a thought. If all I want to do is embroidery names, dates, etc. maybe I should get a low-end sewing machine instead? Mostly what I need are good fonts and ease of programming (my Bernina 1230 has only a block font and it is a horror to program). Maybe then I could also get the decorative stitches I want for binding, all at a lower price. Any recommendations?