I have one of the Brother sewing machines from walmart and I have been using it for years, it is easy to use, easy to learn to thread, just an easy machine. I have even quilted a king size quilt on it. Not easy but it can be done. Anyway I vote for the brother.

I have a Brother CS6000i that I bought 3 years ago and it has been good for me. Just wish I could get a drop down table for it to go into instead of the extension table that came with it. Love this machine. Light weight and very portable. Amazon for $150.00

Add me to those suggesting the Brother CS6000i. I have this one for when I need something my Juki TL2010Q can't do (that machine is straight stitch only). It is exceptionally easy to thread and use. Stitch quality is great and it is very portable. If you plan to do much quilting, the throat area is pretty small, so consider that. I got mine from Amazon for under $150 and find it well worth the price. It has a lot of features for an inexpensive machine, including speed regulation, a needle threader, ability to drop the feed dogs, and a lot of stitch options. Mine came with a ton of feet as well. While it seems slow compared to my Juki, it really is quite fast enough for most anything you would want to sew at home.

Check out Hancock.

I have a Brother SQ9000 from Walmart. $199 before tax. It is closing in on five years old, and I LOVE it. Go take a look.

I have a Brother from Walmart as a back up and I love it so much I use it most of the time now.

mmac71 - From your location, it sounds like you're either a military wife or brat. If I'm wrong, forgive the assumption. I was born in Conn., lived in Chicago, Kentucky, NM, FL, West Texas and now SE Texas. I was an Army brat and an AF wife.

Another vote for the Brother line. I've owned several and never had any problems. I've always sold the one to upgrade to another. If he can afford it, as someone else suggested, the Brother PC420 is fabulous. It's my daily driver and Amazon has it right now for $369 with free shipping and their returns are super easy if she doesn't like it. I had the Brother CS6000i and upgraded to the PC420prw. There was a big difference, most noticeably in the quietness of the 420. But both are good.

I would recommend the Janome Gem 760. I have that Machine and I love it. I take it to quilting classes as it only weighs 12 lbs and has lots of stitches.

the main thing is to get a good machine so that she has no problems. If she is just learning machine problems will turn her off sewing/quilting.

I bought a Brother machine for $79.00 at Walmart and it is a terrific machine.