Welcome aboard. In my other on-line persona I'm a "gamer granny" and can pass for around 14 years old, but sometimes I just gotta let my inner granny out -- even when that was back when I was 14 years old! This is a great place for a cup of coffee in the mornings.
For a beginner, I'd recommend looking at Craig's List for a good used machine until you know what features you want. For the last 30 years I've been sewing on a vintage (older than I am even) sewing machine. It gives me a good strong straight stitch and really that's all you need. Not saying that is all you want but you can get to that. Plenty of good solid machines for free or next to it.
Having said that, I was given a new-to-me machine from a friend of mine, it is a modern Bernina 820 and has all the bells and whistles (but not the embroidery module of the 830). So I'm loving the knee level foot lift up/down -- and she never used it. I'm having problems learning the right tap to end the needle down on the foot pedal, she does it naturally. I love the self-threader, but even a threading assist like in a low-priced Brother is a big help.
Saw and posted in your stash/small pieces thread. We have all sorts of quilters here with all sorts of stashes
