Hi Jen......I have the singer futura....actually its the singer quartet.....its an amazing machine....I got it because it does embroidery...but it also quilts and does regular sewing.......it comes with loads of software.....you get hyperfonts, autopunch, and photopunch......the embroidery is fantastic...you get 2 frames.....one is 5-7 and the big one is 10-15.....I got it last oct on hsn.....and they have it again this year and added another feature for the embroidery which is editing your designs....you get like 350 designs when you get the machine...the best part of this embroidery machine is you can use any machines that are out there....the designs are compatible with the singer...the auto bobbin winder is another feature while your sewing if you run out you simply use the auto bobbin winder.....the machine has a large area for quilting not mention the light omg its so bright you wont have to have lights all over the place....anyways good luck buying your embroidery machine...almost forgot the cost $799.00 so it was a good price for sure.....hope this has helped you in some way.....Trish

I love my Bernina Artista 200. You may be able to get a good price on a used one now as mine is 6 years old. Check your local Bernina dealer.

Snow....for your information......Singer Futura's all have a 25 year warranty........you might just have a 5 year warranty with ebay...but I assure you...its 25 yr warranty...I recently purchased a futura and its 25 yrs.....so if you have any problems Iam sure Singer will help you.....Trish

I have Janome machine that I make labels and also quilt too.

I have a Janome 300E - embroidery only machine. In addition to researching machines, check out the software that you need to buy for your computer. Some of the software alone can cost hundreds of dollars.

I have a Baby Lock Ellisimo, and love it. Very EZ to use have had it over a year and it sings. I took a class at our machine shop, and there was a 14 year old girl, that was using this machine and had no problems with the project. Of course we all know that kids have no problems with machines today, but this girl had never sawn anything before in her life. This machine does everything for you, except change the thread, you have to do that.
Everyones loves their own machine. This isn't a cheap machine, but it is better than some of the other expensive ones. It isn't fuzy at all, there are others that are even more expensive than this one, this one is used my Nancy Zieman, Fons and Porter and others sewing show on TV.

I have the Ruby as well. What software do you have? I couldn't afford the 5D so right now I only have that little vesion that comes with the machine. I have the Viking #1 and there is so much learning aids with it and then you have the Ruby which I love but almost no learning material on it. It drives me crazy. The shop I got it at doesn't always answer their phones or return calls so leaving a message for the viking rep is of no good. We have embroidery club once a month but it's so far that I've only been able to make it to 2 of them. I really get frustrated and I haven't found any learning materials for it.