Congratulations on your recent 301 purchase. :thumbup: I'm a recent owner of one, too. I've had mine for a whole 8 days now, and am SO happy I found one. I'd heard so many wonderful things from others about this machine, I just had to have one for myself.
Unfortunately, my tan short bed came bone dry, so I'm in the process of restoring some life to her with oil and grease. There are about 4 different places you need to use either Singer Motor Lubricant or Tri Flow Grease instead of sewing machine oil once in a while (at least once a year, I've read). Two places are underneath the top plate on those two spiral gears, the other two are underneath the bottom of the machine; another gear and the motor pot, a little silver tube on the right side of your machine. A manual will point all these places out to you. You'll need a little syringe pump to get the grease in the motor pot.
I too, have heard great things about these 301's for our quilting needs. I just purchased a 1/4" foot and a walking foot for "Polly", and look forward to getting to use them on her.
Happy stitchin',
Edited to add:
Oops, I see you haven't purchased it yet, still considering. Sorry for the miscue.