I had $400 to spent and bought a Pfaff that was a dealer's trade-in. Love it.

I absolutely love those Pfaff's.

Walmart is having a Brother machine on sale for $50 for one of sale days coming up. I don't remember if it is Thanksgiving morning or Black Friday or Saturday. You can probably order it online and it's free shipping at Walmart on any purchase this week. Sears here has Janome, Kenmore, Brother and Singer and they are all on sale.

Found this info about the Joann's sale machines and Walmart.
Lot of good info about the machines here:

http://www.consumersearch.com/blog/b...gem-at-walmart

amazon is having an online sale on a Brother for $89. Looked like a pretty good machine, but I don't know much about that brand.

I agree a good used machine is way better than a cheap new one.the low end machines don't hold up well if you sew a lot.I have a friend who killed 2 of them in 1 year.

I can say that my "dinky" under $100 Brother from Costco has been a workhorse. It's a mechanical machine that can sew through anything and hasn't given me a bit of trouble. It's about 5 years old. I made a chenille and flannel quilt and didn't know enough to clean out the bobbin case but it never missed a stitch. It's great if we can all have higher priced machines, but, I don't think not being able to do that shouldn't deter any of us from quilting. JMHO

I have the curvy 8763 and I love it. The price was just right. It has an automatic needle threader, top loading bobbin, thread cutter. It is sooooo easy to use. It came with a cd. The only neg is that the decorative stitching is limited. I can't quite remember how many but I think there are at least 30. I say this is limited because I sew for men as well as women and the men tend to only accept zig zag. Good luck!!

The Walmart $50 machine is online for that price now. It would be a good buy to have to use until you find the one you really want from a dealer or shop. It will take the pressure off having one right now.

I would look around and see what is out there for your price range. I wouldn't be afraid of the dealers used machines also. they can be a great deal for you. I have a singer and a janome and I love my janome more. it is basically the same model but the janome is quieter. good luck and post a pic of your new baby that you get.