Hi and welcome. You can get a Janome 6500 for that price on ebay sometimes. Also suggest you check with www.kenssewingcenter.com. They are a great dealer and are the largest Janome dealer in the country last I heard. Wonderful people to work with and may have a trade in for that price.

By the way, the Janome 6500 has a 9 inch harp (throat) which makes for easier quilting.

I got both of my Brother machines from Ken's Sewing Center in Muscle Shoels AL. I live in MS. Lots of times they will have machines that were put on layaway but not paid out and picked up. You can get one for the pay out amount. They also sell refurbished ones. Both of mine are refurbished and I love them. Great customer service, too. Service has to be done by them on the refurbished ones and you just ship it back to them. The cost is much less than just a service charge at most repair shops.

Not affiliated in any way...just a happy customer.

I got an Elna quilter at a sewing machine shop for $300. The owner takes machines as trade ins, so this was cleaned and ready to go. He taught me how to use it and gave me a fair warranty. I have had it for about 5 years.....Has not let me down so far.

May I suggest a Singer 401? I have both a 301 and 401 (Singer) and I think if I had to choose, I'd go with the 401 for the zig zag and fancy stitches that would allow you to do applique and topstitching. In time, look into a walking foot and free motion (darning foot). If you want new, I think Janome is a good way to go IMHO.

Brother is a good cheap way to go.
Mine cost me $129 for the Brother XR65 made for quilting. It came with a walking foot, and even an extension table.
It is a little work horse. It has a bunch of fancy stitchs but have never used them.
This was over 5 years ago and never had to take it in for repairs.
The only thing it lacks is needle down and a long throat.
Later I added the H. Viking Shappire 830 with a 10 in. throat and needle down but it cost alot more and is computerized. It has been in the shop.
My Brother is my backup machine now for when the fancy one is in the shop or being stubborn about working.

if you are going to do larger quilts than a lap, you should look at the size of the opening where you would need to roll up your bulk. I love my little babylock but it has such a small throat that I have a difficult time quilting, especially free motion because of the movement. Good luck, it's a hard thing isn't it?

Thanks for the input everyone! I found a used Brother PC-420 and ordered it today. It got a lot of great reviews and seems very versatile so i'm hoping it will be just what i was looking for. Wish me luck!!