OK, so y'all are contagious. Maybe I'll do a quilt this winter. But not the cross stitch one. I want an expert doing that one. But I have a maple leaf top my mother made and which has been in a drawer since I married. If it isn't dry rotted, I may get some frames and do that one.
Was talking to my brother yesterday and he said I need to go to English's Sewing to get a machine. LOL. That is the one Beckums found and recommended. So, I may drop by there the next time I go out with my girlfriends, which will be next month.
Good luck, Sunshine. If you're learning a new machine, it doesn't hurt to purchase a used one first and do all your learning and goofing on that machine. If you like the system, stay with the brand. OTOH, if you get a new Pfaff or Bernina, you're getting the quietest and most obedient machine on the market, dealers are required to offer classes and learning opportunities with trained providers, plus they make it fun. If you see gorgeous quilts hanging around, that's likely a great place that encourage people to be the best they can.
If I were Sunshine, I'd be looking for a machine that has both stitch-by-stitch cross stitches on it as well as software to execute complex patterns that are topically identical to counted cross stitch. That way, when and if arthritis knocks out handwork ability, you are backed up by a smart machine that in 8 hours can do the work of one of us in 8,000 hours. It requires a challenging amount of coursework to learn expert machine cross stitch ins and outs, but there are motivated people in that part of the world who do just that. You may have to cross state lines for how-tos, but it's worth the scouting effort to get trained in that kind of work.
Smart machines today extend your life of sewing when and if you want them to. Top of the line machines may also be placed on frames to do quilting, but again, be sure your dealer is available to set up your quilt frame and has both regular and computer classes in embroidery and in quilting. Also tops-of-line quilting and embroidery machines have "go" buttons, so you don't have to hug your foot to the foot pedal any more. If you have these on your list, however, expect to pay what you'd pay for a new car. What they do is stellar, and I can't even describe how much fascination and fun it is to watch the design you just programmed into your computer spit it out in gorgeous stitches onto a piece of prepared linen. There are even ways to embroider satin roses onto voile if you're willing to travel to classes of dealers that specialize in French hand sewing, needlework bargello, counted cross stitch, and even silk roses and Brazillian work. What top of the line machines do is endless including detailed quilt stitches.
If you just want to put two pieces of fabric together, though, Walmart sells basic Brother and Singer machines that you can buy a 1/4" stitch foot for unless it includes quilt feet or sells them nearby. The Brother 9500 has 200 stitches, a simple alphabet, and 3 memories, as I recollect from buying one for sewing on when my machine was out for repairs. Top of the lines take extra time, and I'd sewn 60 quilts on it already when it needed servicing, not to mention household mending. The brother sewed 30 quilts before it needed a service, but I only paid $199 for it and had a 3-month blast, because it had a lot of spoiler features on it I was already accustomed to by having several tops of line machines.
Quilt #38 (or 39?) is Done!
