I havre a Brothers 1500 straight stitch that I really like. It has a wider throat so it is easier to FMQ. Test sew machines at sewing centers to find out which one you like. Then check internet to find this machine at best price. I bought my Brothers from Amazon which is a authorized Brother dealer for $600 with free shipping and no taxes which was about $400-600 cheaper then a sewing center. No lessons but I can read and how hard is a straight stitch.

As for fabric- I buy all fabric and pattern for one that I like. I have some stash but it seems that there is not any fabric that I need/like for a project. That is not to say I do not have projects to do. In fact I have fabric/pattern for about 10-12 quilts. I am not really fond of scrappy quilts so maybe that is why my stash does not always work for me. One of the quilting mags has a scrappy quilt on the cover that uses 500+ different fabrics. Way to use up your scraps.