I'm new to the forum and fairly new to the world of quilting. I was hoping the more experienced members here could help give me some advice and share some knowledge.

I've been learning to quilt, and sew in general, for the past couple of years. I am really enjoying quilting and can foresee this being a hobby I will continue from here on out. When I decided to start sewing a few years ago my husband bought me a little Brother (CS-6000) from Walmart. It is a great starter/beginner machine and I don't have many complaints about it. I'm ready to move up though and get a nicer machine. I've been researching for a couple weeks now and have somewhat narrowed my list but not nearly enough still. I'd like to get whatever input y'all would care to share.

Bernina 440 QE - This is my number one choice and if I could afford it I'd run out and buy this machine new right now. I can't even begin to afford it though so if I go with this number one choice, it will HAVE to be used. I've seen a couple used one's online in the $2,000-$2,500 range, though that's still a bit more than I care to spend. I not looking to have the embroidery option so that helps some with price. Really, if I don't go with this machine it will be purely because of price. But we all know that money is always the bottom line so this machine may not be an option. That is why I'm needing to determine a second choice option.

Janome 6600 - This seems like a comparable option to the Bernina, at a lower price. I can't quite determine what the new cost of this machine would be since internet sales are not allowed. I haven't seen hardly any used ones for sale and I don't know if that's just because the machine is a newer one so not many people ready to upgrade yet, or if everyone just loves theirs so much they don't want to sell. From the reading I've been doing it seems like there's some that are unhappy with the free motion quilting that this machine does. But I've read lots of happy reviews too so maybe there were a few duds that slipped through Quality Control? :)

Pfaff - I've seen lots of happy Pfaff owner reviews, though I have not yet studied up on this brand enough to determine which model would best suit me.

Juki TL98QE - I've read many times where this is a good machine for free motion, and that's the most important aspect to me, but it's a reeeeeally basic machine. It's got a great price, I could easily buy it new and not have an issue with that, but being a lockstitch there aren't any bells or whistles on it. Part of me wants to think that my little Brother could still do my piecing and whatever I wanted in the decorative stitch department and then I could have the Juki to free motion well on, but another part of me really wants a fancy-schmany machine that does all sorts of neato things. (Honestly probably more things than I'd ever use but lets not talk about that, lol)

There's just so many machines out there and I've been trying to at least sort out which ones are best for free motion quilting on. I'm not interested in doing any embroidery so that isn't something the machine I choose HAS to do. If it's a built in extra, fine, but my decision isn't being made on that factor. My Brother has the needle up/down option and that is something I've gotten too used to having to go without now. I don't have the knee lift so that would be nice to try out, but I've learned without it so it's not totally necessary. As of right now I don't plan on quilting on a frame so the machine doesn't have to have that capability either. So other than being a great free motion machine and those couple of things I listed, I don't really have any other "must haves" on my list.

Please feel free to give me whatever advice or knowledge you'd like to share! I more than appreciate it!

Rachel

You may be even more confused by the end of this thread but here is my 2 cents worth.
I have a 35year old Bernina which in that time has been serviced twice and runs like a dream. No bells and whistles but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I also have a Singer treadle machine which I am trying to tame. If I could have lifted it, I would have thrown it out the window yesterday. I'm not sure how many more lives it has got......

I think quite a few people on board here have the Janome and appear to like it. I really love my elna Quilter's Dream. Has some embroidery capabilities, needle up/down, knee lift, bigger bed than the average machine. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice, but I think the best thing for you to do, is go test drive some machines that you're considering.

I have a Janome 6600 (have had it over a year) and really love it! I've been able to do piecing, straight line and free motion quilting as well as things for DH on his leather vest. It is a work horse of a machine at a reasonable price. In fact, I now have three Janomes, the 6600 the 350E embroidery and the 2018 for travel. Find a good dealer in your area and ask lots of questions. I chose between Bernina and Janome when I bought mine.

Yes, you might be more confused.

There are a lot of threads that have addressed this question. You can do a search for them.

I like my 'ancient' Viking - It has lasted 30 years with only one problem, and a few trips to the shop for cleaning. I also have two Singer featherweights - really ancient, about 60 years old - great machines. A lot of quilters like the older machines because they are real workhorses. For that reason, I would recommend looking for a used machine in a brand you like and trust.

use the search botton on the top and put in bernina sewing machine and you can see all that has been said about the machine. I have a Bernina that is almost 20 yrs old. Worth the money.
So go to SEARCH and enter your topic. :-D :-D :-D

I have had a number of low end machines ( and some of these have been wonderful machines so I'm not knocking them ) I used these for piecing and my Juki for free motion quilting and that worked great for me. I just got a Pfaff. I use it for embroidery and some piecing. I guess my point is those lower end machines can be GREAT for piecing and sometimes quilting. You need to decide exactly what you want that second machine to do and go from there.

I vote for Janome!! I love mine, for 3 years, havent had an issue :)

See that's the problem, I only have experience with my simple Brother machine. I would be even more lost trying to decide on what older make and model to buy since there's even less information available about those older machines. I have no doubt there's some older machines that would blow the newer ones out of the water when it comes to working ability though.

I'm just scared to death I'll end up chosing the wrong machine and regret the purchase. Being indecisive isn't anything new for me though. :-P

You have put a great amount of thought into your needs, perhaps you should keep saving your pennies, unfortunately the econmy is going to make a few more victims before it's done, you may be surprised what you'll find in a few more months; make do with what you have for now, if you can...I have a 1962 Singer to do binding ( from the second hand store $10.00 in 1991) ;a Neechi I traded 2 hours to repair a zipper for, for piecing; A Janome School model , bought in 2000 for 199.00 to peice; and my newest treasure... A Husky C200 to do quilting!