Hi and welcome from North Carolina! After a very long time... many years..., I have found that expensive and fancy machines are not always the best way to go. I had a Viking computerized one with lots of bells and whistles, but it gave up the ghost after only a couple of years. No one would repair it. The repair guys all said that it wasn't worth the fixin' , so I ended up with a $99 Heavy Duty Singer from Walmart that does everything I ask it to do. No problems. Just keeps purring along.