I have several embroidery and 2 surgers. One the newest surgers is a cover stitch only. I use it to do tee shirts and interlock nets. All surgers are not the same. You will have to do some home work. A friend of mine liked mine she bought an upgrade and it is so difficult to use and thread she has never used it. Keep your tools easy to use and you will use them more often.

I have a Diamond and it had a small piece break off and it is still not back . They have had it since June 9. I am sick of the excuses. Now they want me to pay for it . When I turned it in it was covered under the warranty.

I would also say embroidery machine, especially if you like little ones quilted items. They have so many cute things you could add to the quilts that way.

I spent the most I could afford on my embroidery and on my serger to get the features I knew I would use. I was fortunate enough to have used a friend's machines and knew what I wanted. If you do NOT know what you really want, what you will be using in the next 2-5 years, then I suggest you rent a machine, beg or borrow, or take a class on a machine you think you may want. I can't imagine anything much worse than for a dedicated quilter or seamstress to have wanted to buy the perfect (for her) machine and then to settle for something else from lack of knowledge. I'm sure that in the next 5 years you will want to do more, better, different than you are doing now. Who doesn't? Be sure your machine will keep up with you.

I bought a serger at an estate sale a year or so ago and while it doesn't do all the fancy stuff that the latest ones do, I use it constantly for some of the veils I make, napkins and tablecloths, scarves and clothing. I even used it to make netting for my grape arbor!
But if I had to choose, I would chose an embroidery machine. I have two and use them constantly.

I vote for the embroidery machine!

Unless you sew lots of clothes, I'd say get the embroidery machine. I seldom use my serger, but enjoy it when I do. I use my embroidery machine almost every day! One thing I would check, though, is the size of the hoops that come with the embroidery machine. Some of the embroidery fields are pretty small, and if I'm going to embroider, I want it large enough to be seen!

I have a serger have not used it in 7 years,you can do a zig-zag and finishes things off. Good Luck :shock:

I have a brand new serger and have only used it once. I quilt only. Now, I use my embroidery machine for quilting.

When my sewing machine was in the shop and took forever to get a part, I serge pieced a huge log cabin quilt and it did a beautiful job. Even the longarmer commented on how even it was. So consider that an embroidery machine can't substitute for a sewing machine in ways that a serger can.

the brother embrodiery machine I have is also a serger so maybe look for a combination.