Thank you all very much. I went ahead and bought the Kenwood for $254. You all have been great in helping me narrow down the best possibilities and I think for the price this machine will suit us for a while. My wife is excited as am I.

I don't remember if I told you about her idea for a quilt. I think it is such a great idea I wanted to share it with you. She has gotten together multiple scraps of material she has used over the last 30 years on various projects around the house and will be making a quilt for my 26 y.o. daughter out of that material. I know my daughter will love and cherish it. I know she will be able to remember what each of the different fabrics did around the house as she was growing up. What a nice piece to have in her own family. I have a smart and loving wife!

I do appreciate the care and concern you have all offered to me and I wanted to give something back if I could. I have some expertise when it comes to men and boys and how they process emotions differently from women and girls. I give workshops around the country on this topic for mental health professionals. I have a short video online that summarizes some of this material if you have any interest in the topic. You can find it here.

http://webhealing.com/ws.html

Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a little flash video. Just click play. The material is important since a man's way of healing and responding to stress is very different from women's. This difference, if unrealized, can create big problems in relationships. If you have any questions just let me kow on this thread and I will do what I can.

Thank you all again.

Tom

Tom - that's a great site/video! my husband (Gary Golden) was watching over my shoulder and chuckled a lot!

Congrats!!!!!! We can hear the hummmm of the new machine all over the states:))Yahoo!! We are so happy for your wife!! (You too for if the wife is happy then we know you are!)May you have many quilts coming your way to keep you warm!! Skeat

Very informative video Tom not only for men but for ladies also.

Capital quilts seems to have the Pfaff machines. Get her the one with the built in walking foot if at all possible. She will love it.

I have a Bernina 440QE. It was pricey, but they have good lessons that you can repeat later if you wish. This is important for any machine to be able to use all its accessories. I wanted to have this and a Little Gracie frame, but now I hesitate on the frame. I'm afraid the opening between the needle and the motor is now big enough to handle the roll. So I'm stuck there for now. But I do love the machine.

Kenmore is a great choice. I'm sewing on a Kenmore that I received as a graduation (high school) in 1970!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It sat untouched for many years until I discovered that I really liked piecing quilts! I took it to a shop to be cleaned and checked out. I was told it was in excellent condition to be that old. Good luck with yours! May it last as long as mine has!!!

I see a typo. I'm afraid the opening is not big enough.

My machines are all from Sears, they have various ones for different needs and price ranges.

I had a singer ( just a cheap one to get back into learning to sew) and then got hooked on quilting so bought a White Quilter Star 1780. Was in love with it for about 5 mos. then the auto. threader broke, (which was a bummer but could live with out it) then the whole thing started to act up after only 8 mos. called JoAnns where I bought it and they said to bring it to them ( I live 50 miles away) and then when I got there they said I had to pay $90.00 to ship it back to Ohio and I said "No way" Finally found a man in a small town 2 hours away who fixed it for me for $90.00 and it has worked ever since and that was 3 years ago. Don't know if I had a lemon or what. I did 6 mos of research and thought for $350.00 (which is all I could afford) was a reasonable piece of machinary. I do know that if I have to buy another one I will make sure I try one out. I do like the feature of needle down and a lever for speed control.