eparys

Welcome to the Board and welcome to the world of quilting!!

Iceblossom has given you some excellent advice so I will just add some of my personal thoughts. All the brands make good machines. You will need to sort out which bells and whistles that different machines offer suit you. Imo, any decent machine designed now a days will handle basic alteration skills if it has a free arm.

Many of the high end machines have so many bells and whistles that most quilters only utilize a small portion of the machine capabilities. My first recommendation would be setting a budget. Then spend o couple of days stopping in to several Sewing machine stores and get demos from them. This gives you a feel for many different machines, how they sound, how they sew. You will also glean a lot of general info from the sales person. Also , please remember, all their demos (including their choice of fabric to use in the demo) is designed to sell their machine. Then make a list of which options are a must have, and which would be nice. Once you have that sorted out you will be all set.

I have found most of my machines through Craigslist. My list of must haves for quilting is Needle up\down, Presser foot up\down be able to reposition the needle left\right, a larger harp (the space between the needle and body of the machine), a built in "even feed" system and a nice array of utility stitches. That requirement for an even feed (similar to a walking foot) put me in Pfaff territory - they were the first I think to have this on almost all of their machines.

Purchasing an older mechanical machine ... upsides - Less cost and repairs are usually straight forward; downsides - limited fancy options.

Purchasing an older computerized machine...upsides - Lots of bells and whistles for less $$; downsides - computerized machines have motherboards and at some point in time that become nonexistent and generally you have to go to a dealer for repairs.

While I have purchased mine used and found them online, there is one upside to purchasing from a dealer (whether used or new, pricey or not) - that would be classes, general help when needed and usually some sort of warranty that you are not purchasing a lemon

One question about your older Singer - you said it struggles going trough layers - Is it having issues moving the fabric under the presser foot or actually putting the needle through the fabric?

I am sure I have missed something lol - good luck in your search and welcome again!!