Occasionally I teach basic sewing classes to interested persons, usually they bring their own machines, by far and away the two that show up are inexpensive brothers purchased at walmart, and vintage kenmores. I had one student that took back a balky brother that jumpstarted everything, and she found a pre owned brother at a yard sale for 35$ that was almost new and worked like a charm. I have lots of vintage singer machines for student use, and prefer the simpler machines for teaching the principles involved in sewing. Most of the time the new, flashy machines are just too complicated to absorb when learning to sew. All you really need for quilting is a dependable straight stitch and a few attachments. LESS is always better in my opinion!:)