When I was 8 my mother taught me to sew on her Singer 15-91. It really spoiled me. (Even though I wanted the Singer's child machine because my best friend had one.) It was in a cabinet, so were the ones we used in HomeEc. So much better than the portable machines. When I had to sew on my portable Singer in 1973 it was hard to deal with such a small surface. Brother makes what they call a quilting machine which comes with an extension table.