I recently purchased an Eversewn Sparrow 30 to take to classes, and I'm in love with it! It has a lot of features I didn't expect to get for what I was willing to spend, and the stitches are lovely. I believe the Eversewn company is affiliated with Bernina.

I own 3 machines....all Babylock's. My Babylock Melody is perfect for travel and sews like a dream....lightweigh, smooth, quiet, and a workhorse. It's new so I've been using it a lot to become familiar with features. I was given a brand new Babylock serger but I have to take a class to learn more. I forget which model it is. Anywhooo...love Babylock but I sat down at my LA's Bernina (massive deluxe model) and it sewed beautifully, too. Really, personal preference and pocketbook to find the one perfect for you. Good luck!

Well as I see everyone loves their particular machines. I'm a Husq Viking and Vintage Singer lady. What I find once you pick a particular brand (I have an SE sewing/embroidery combo) you put so much money into supplies for it...Feet, hoops I really have to stick w/that brand in the future because accessories are interchangable. Main reason I love my Viking is the foot lefts automatically for pivots, thread cutter and threader. I guess one of these days I'll investigate other brands for those particular items because now I'm spoiled and can't live w/o it.
But if I had to replace my Viking the newest combo goes for 15,500 and no way would I spend that on a new machine. Gone are the days of getting machines for reasonable prices.

What is “best” for one person is not “best” for another person.

My opinion is that the best machine is the one that does the job its user wants done and has the best, clearest maker manual use and care information as well as ongoing maker support. AND LASTLY BUT EXQUISITELY IMPORTANT, a service tech close to home.

This next paragraph is offered to support my opininatedness: I currently own an assortment of 6 sewing machines from my grandmother's Singer 66 through my father's last gift to me, a Husqvarna Designer Diamond Royale. I also own a Singer serger Merritt 14u44 and a Huskylock 936 serger. Yeah, kinda from historic-ish alpha to current omega-ish omega. A total of 8 and all of them work and get used. If I can, I do the servicing. If not, they get a kiss on the forehead, a pat on the fanny, and a trip to the service person. Only one of them has passed on - an Elna Super that I actually wore out; used beyoned repair.

Should I ever need a machine, I will be applying for your advice and support. Thank you for being there.

Pat

All my modern machines are Brothers and I can’t find fault with any of them. I have a lot of vintage singers too

Good for you! After reading around, Brother really gets my vote for new sewing machines in about every price class.

If I were in the market for a new machine and wanted to spend a whole lot of money, I'd probably feel most confident going with a Brother. Why? Because Brother doesn't only make sewing machines and with any luck they are leveraging their knowledge from other areas such as scanners, printers, etc to make a less finicky end product. I haven't read many horror stories. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Of course, I would never buy a TOL sewing machine. My sewing time and capabilities don't warrant it. For the money, I'd rather have a nice trailer to tow to campgrounds where I'd use some of my lesser machines on rainy days :) while still breathing in the mountain air. That would be an all-around joy.

After reading, seeing and hearing about recent sewing machines and being hugely disappointed in general, I've been researching true industrials, the non-portable ones used in sew in factories. Unfortunately Juki has figured out what a great option they are for quilters with their J-150QVP (which they've over-priced because they are marketing to quilters). I'd better get my industrial machine fast before the price goes up throughout the line.