Many of us on this board have had great luck with the basic Brother mechanical machines. I use 4 of them. Two at home, one at each of my son's houses. All different, but basic mechanical. they aren't fussy with thread or if lint gets into the bobbin case, metal or plastic bobbins, etc.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...s-t211326.html

If all you want to do is straight stitch (no zigzag, no fancy stitches) and there is a working Singer 301A among your used advertisements, snap it up. It's a workhorse -- easy to thread, easy to maintain, manual and parts readily available, modern attachments such as a walking foot can be found to fit it .....

If you don't feel confident about assessing machines, do you have any sewing friends that can go with you? Take some pieces of fabric to try out.

I have a Pfaff 1540 and another old Singer. Neither holds a candle to the Singer 301A in terms of usability. The Pfaff has integrated dual feed, which is the bomb for certain tasks, but you pay for that in tension fussiness, complex threading pattern, etc.

I have to agree with the brother sq-9050 from walmart. I have had mine almost 2 years now with no problems, use it for classes and travel and when my big machine is in the shop. It is a good beginnner machine and can serve as a backup when you upgrade. It comes with all you quilting accessories. It is a good little piecer, I don't use it to quilt a quilt because of the small harp, but lap sized quilts should be not to difficult on this machine. someone above did a twin size. and there are techniques for doing it in sections. Good luck with your decision

I just started quilting (and sewing for that matter) in November, and got a Singer Confidence Quilter on sale. It's not a Bernina, and I don't know how big the throat is but I've FMQd a lap quilt on it (and it FMQs very nicely). I'd get it again given the chance. It came with a bunch of feet, including a 1/4" foot and a darning foot for FMQ. On the flip side, I haven't met anyone who doesn't like their Brother.