I'd stay FAR away from Kenmore. The machines aren't even made with standard parts. I had one, the screw on the needle plate got worn, tried getting a new one. They wanted 16 dollars for a screw! OKay, fine I had to have it I had costumes for a play that needed sewing. They lied on how long it would take AND then three tries and they NEVER did match the screw. I finally told them to forget it. By the third try I was already behind in what I needed done so I bought a machine at a thrift store and did the rest of the costumes on that.
That screw should have been a standard part but because they farm the parts out to other countries it was not.Seems over the years the machines got made in different places so they had no idea where to even start looking for the proper screw. The machine sits in a closet because I can not find a screw that fits the needle plate properly! I will never buy or recommend Kenmore to anyone EVER again.

Kenmores are made by Janome now. I have one that is 3 years old and love it. When I need something for it, I go to our local Janome dealer and he fixes me right up.

There are no sewing machines made in the USA any longer unless you buy an expensive industrial custom made one. They are all made overseas. I believe Bernina still makes their machines in Switzerland, Viking in Sweden, but not the ones that cost less than $1000. My new Viking Emerald was made in Taiwan and even a Viking shop staff member was shocked about that. I asked my sewing machine repair guy for my old Kenmore which brand he would buy and he likes Juki (Japanese) but I don't know if they make embroidery machines like you want. Kenmore used to be a good machine, I have a 39-year old Kenmore that still runs like a dream but it only has straight and zig-zag stitch. If I were you I would take the time to ask around, go to different specialty shops and talk to a lot of people who actually use the machines that you are interested in and find out how they like their machines and especially how they are treated as far as repair service, warranty, etc. I had a problem with my brand new Viking after 2 hours of sewing and it was like pulling teeth to get customer service for it. Then I had to leave it at the dealer, which is an hour drive away, they had to have someone from the outside come in and take it out to fix it and then bring it back. I asked my old repair guy what the deal was on Vikings after the warranty runs out and he says that Viking won't even let him get parts to repair newer machines anymore. Sounds like they want to put pressure on older machine owners to upgrade to newer models rather than repair the machines. The dealer staff is very friendly and helpful to get you to buy a new machine but have no time for you when something goes wrong.

Any local dealer can have really excellent service or not-so-good service. You will benefit from visiting any sewing machine retailer in your area. Ask them to explain the different models and ask to let you "test drive" any machine you are interested in.

Many quality machines like Bernina, Pfaff, Viking, Baby Lock, Juki, Janome, or others may have machines that do embroidery. They may be quite expensive. For quilting, you want a machine that has "needle up/needle down" for leaving the needle in place in the fabric when you stop to privot. You also want the machine to be able to drop the feed dogs (feed teeth) for free motion quilting. And you want the machine to either have a built-in even feed foot (Pfaff's is built in) or an even feed attachment foot for in the ditch and straight line quilting. A buttonhole stitch on the machine is nice for machine applique or you can use a small zig-zag stitch to hold down the applique pieces. Needle adjustment is important so you can set a 1/4-inch stitching line when piecing blocks.

Here is a link to machine reviews on the Pattern Review site:

Here is a link that might be useful: Machine reviews on PatternReview.com

My 2 cents on the embroidery part...don't buy a machine from a store that doesn't offer lessons for the machine. I have a Brother machine and have never properly learned how to do embroidery on it. I bought it at a show from a shop far away from me; by the time I found a Brother dealer reasonably close to home and wanted to sign up for the day-long class that should have come with the machine they said it was too late. The shop owner did offer to give me a 2 hour lesson for $100, then she ended up not charging me (since the lesson was supposed to be free in the first place).

Anyway, I hardly ever embroider with the machine b/c I feel like I really don't know how to do it right. I know there is so much more I could do (like splitting larger designs) if I had just had the right lessons.

Donna

Sears is introducing some new Kenmore models and some people have been able to find incredible bargains on the discontinued versions. The clearance prices are, apparently, at the discretion of the individual managers, so visit or call as many Sears stores in your area as possible. One person was able to get the Kenmore Elite 19005, an embroidery machine that usually runs $1200, for just $195!

The current Janome made Kenmores get consistently good reviews on-line, and are offer good value for the money. Sears also seems to have a better return policy than the regular Janome dealers.

Viking has been running a very good special on the Sapphire 835, but it is still just shy of $1,000.

The Viking Sewing Galleries, in my personal experience, offer some of the best trade-in deals - usually 100% of whatever you paid for one year, that enable you to start with a lower end model and upgrade when it is more financially convenient, or as your sewing needs change. In contrast, I was disgusted to find that my local Baby Lock and Janome dealers consider their machines to be essentially worthless after only three months!

I have a Brother embroidery machine (10 yr old, PC-6500), I bought it from a local dealer. I really like the machine, but like Donna mentioned, I'd get one that came with classes. I wouldn't have a clue how to use it if I hadn't taken them. It does fairly well quilting, but the sales person recently told me it really isn't designed for FM quilting, so it doesn't do that very well. Something about the insides of the machine and how it is built.

I'd like to have a new machine just for quilting. I have new sewing machine fever so bad......

Cristal, Have you found the "RIGHT" machine yet?
I started looking on my last day off and just managed to get pretty much befuddled.
So many features, So many choices and so much range in prices.
Teresa nc, thanks for the list of important features. That is a big help.