I used to have the Brother 6000i & I loved it. It is a great little machine. I think it would be great for your GD to learn on & sew with for many years. Very user friendly too. I miss mine for piecing but I lost it in a power surge of my entire house. I guess the wires outside my house were bare & rubbed together. I heard a big boom & then no lights. It fried everything electrical in my house. I was lucky it didn't burn my house down they said. Also it was on a surge protector but I was told with something like this the surge protectors don't work. I don't know. Anyways I don't think you will be sorry if you buy one.