drdolly

I would check out different machines with different tasks that can be done. Find out the closest repair shop and classes if needed on the machine. I have two. One is the Elna Quilter's Design and the other is a Baby Lock Espire, oh I almost forgot my baby "Featherweight".

BellaBoo

Buy the best you can afford if you want a new machine. I use my Singer 301 much more then my expensive machine.

mamaw

Each brand has a machine to fit your needs, depending on what you want to spend. You can find reviews to most machines online to help you with your decision. Janome just came out with a new model that has 11" to quilt with. That is larger than most machines and is selling for $2999 at most places. The 6600 would be the next in line for space; and sells for alot less. It has a 9" bed space.

littlehud

You and I agree on that. I love my Juki and it was best investment

Fiber Artist

Love bernia, but my son loves his brother machines

nellie

i also have the bernina 730e atrista ,i think if i would have to do it all over again ,i would buy a long arm which is around the same price of a new bernina 730,$8,000.00 and change ,and then buy a janome top of line i ,ve seen the new one and i have to say they sew just as good as a bernina,that,s just how i think now ,not that im not happy with my beauitful bernina it,s just that i should have just brought a regular sewing machine with just embriodery and have a long arm or mid arm to quilt on instead of my bernina . my bernina also also quilts but having to control a large quilt on it is hard ,that just what i should have done from the begining just my thinking

IrishNY

I have to agree that I love my Bernina. It's about 10 years old and a complete workhorse. I can ignore it for months and then sit down and have it sew perfectly. But Bernina's are really expensive and may not be worth it to everyone. I have been coveting one of the new Janome Horizon machines. I have no idea why - I only use my Bernina to piece and I have a longarm. There are lots of great machines out there at lots of price points. Find the one that will do what you want at a price that makes you feel like it's worth it.

wesing

The IDT feature on Pfaff machines is a big help in piecing. They seem expensive to me, but I haven't priced other machines (Bernina, Baby Lock, Janome), so I don't know how they compare. I would recommend checking with your dealer to see if you can get a used machine that will work for you. We bought a used machine for me that I will probably never wear out for $300. The owner had purchased it at "our shop," used it for several years, then brought it back as trade on a nicer machine. We know it was serviced regularly, and it will do everything I will ever need it to do. Much better than paying $1k or $2k for my purposes.

Darren

DeniseB

I am a Bernina girl, I have the 440QE, just love it.

IrishNY

You need to decide if this is going to be your sewing machine for a long time or if you will want to upgrade regularly. I spent a lot of money on my machine but I have been using it for 10 or 12 years and will probably use it for 10 more or longer. If I amortize it over the years, it was pretty cheap per year. It's worth spending more money to get more machine or a better quality machine if you think it will be enough for a long time to come.