Thank you for all the suggestions. I'll look into the different options. I didn't want to spend more than $300 but not being familiar with what's out there, I wasn't sure that was an option.

I own/have owned several Bernina Deco 600 and Deco 650 embroidery machines. Paid between $300-350 used. Both have nice alphabets. If you look into getting a used machine, ask the person selling it to stitch out some letters for you so you can see what they look like.

I have a Brother 900D, it really is an excellent machine and will do both stitching and embroiderying. This machine is small and compact nice for taking back and forth to classes.
I also have a Baby Lock, that I just purchased used (had almost no sewing by the precious owner), it has a much larger selection of fonts. BL does not sew as well as the Brother. It is a swap off.

This is what I have and I LOVE it! This machine just sings for me.

There's a Brother SE350 on overstock.com for @269 + FREE shipping.

I paid close to 400.00 at Walmart for mine. I love it for embroidery+. This looks like a good deal.

I just got an e-mail add, that promotes a new Brother SE400. I checked this out and this machine has more than the SE350 and also allows computer access by USB port. cost 369.00 and free shipping to store at Walmart http://www.brother-usa.com/HomeSewin....mc_ev=clickt. this is my attempt to give you the link.

Just curious. Do you live near Stroudsburg,PA? I was in a store last week and someone was in there looking for a machine to do alphabet. What a small world if it was you. You can e-mail me at [email protected] or [email protected]

Can you use other CD's or some type of flash drive on your machine then you would just have to purchase a new alphabet on one of those drives.

I bought two machines from Toni. I really like the way he does business. He will not sell you the moon, if you ask for stars.