Nothing sews like a Bernina!!! I have an Actica 135, a 170 and a serger.

Great advice! I recently was in the position that you are currently in and after researching and comparing several machines, I selected a Janome 7700 and I love, love, love it! Good luck in finding the right one for you!! :-D

I have an old Bernina and a newer Janome. Love them both. The family is going together to buy our oldest granddaughter (27) a new machine and we let her go out and decide what she wanted. It was to be a new machine of her choice within a $$ value. She has decided on a Baby Lock. My only suggestion would be go out and find what machine fits what you want and is in your $$$ to spend. A dealer has warranties and service that are important.

i purchased the Baby lock Symphony for classes. love it! I also have the Viking Designer SE and love it. Why don't you like the Viking? They are wonderful machines.

just to clarify my previous statement...I own a Janome gem silver, an Elna quilter's dream, a Bernina 830 Record, a Bernina 717, a Singer Spartan, a vintage Pfaff, a vintage singer, a singer hand crank and a white treadle...ALL of these machines are fantastic and I love them....but each has their own value and place in my studio...some do things better than others, so make YOURSELF happy with your choice(s)!

I have three berninas and love everyone of them , I have never had to replace a single part on any of them and they from canvas to tulle with easy smooth stitches , best investments I ever mad . Cathy

I love my Bernina 440 QE

I recently purchased a new Janome Horizon and it is sewing beautifully. I would recommend it for anyone, especially an intermediate quilter, as you would actually know what to do with all the decorative stitches. I am learning.

I recently upgraded my Pfaff 7570 to a Babylock Serenade. I love it, it's like my Pfaff on steroids with it's bells and whistles. It makes a beautiful stitch and I love the auto scissors.

I have loved my Pfaff for years but would never buy one of the newer ones. (1) I don't think the quality is as good as it once was (2) The Pfaff dealer here stinks.

The Serenade is so much like my Pfaff it's unreal with the stitch quality. I also have a Juki TL2010Q for FMQ and to use on Grace GMQ frame when I finally get it set up. I haven't tried FMQ on the Serenade yet but the harp size is about the same as the Juki. Plus I got a really good price on it. If you have a Babylock dealer, it's worth checking out.

Check out Babylock machines. You get a lot of machine for the money, and they are very user friendly.