Thank you everyone. this was very helpful. I’m lucky my dealer is sewing machines plus. They do have all those machines and provide service at their San Marcos (San Diego store) They will let me try out all the machines.
The one I tried at the show was a George. I really did like that one. It seemed a cut above the sweet 16. I liked that it faced the way a regular sewing machine does but the bobbin was small. I’m confident enough to do repairs at home if I have guidance.
I actually worked with handiquilter to find what could be causing the intermittent problem and brought the possible solutions into Mario to try out, since I didn’t have the parts or detailed directions. I’ll find out this week if the first solution worked.