Welcome from beautiful western North Carolina. You need to decide what features you want on a sewing machine and what your purse will allow for expenditures. On this board, it appears to me that quilters have all types of machines. I have my mom's 1949 treadle Singer, a Kenmore I bought in the 1970s, and a Bernina I bought about 11 years ago. I use the Bernina. The treadle needs some TLC, but it still works. In fact, it is what I learned to sew on.