At my last retreat there was a woman with an Eversewn Sparrow 25. The stitches were beautiful and it only weight about 15 lbs and not overly expensive. I'm thinking about getting one for retreats.

I love my 3160 for a light weight travel machine. In fact, it was the first machine I bought when I learned to quilt in 2010 and was a trooper for an inexperienced quilter. I used it to learn free motion and it did a great job on a twin size quilt. Many of my quilting buddies have this machine and we all comment on how great it is!

For those of you who like older mechanical machines like the featherweight, consider the Kenmore 158 1030 (also 1040 and 1050), aka as the rose Kenmores. I have a featherweight but the 3/4 Kenmore is my absolute favorite portable machine. My Rosie is awesome and cost me less than half what I paid for the FW. And she still had the hang tag on her handle! Brand new! Here's a website that talks about them: http://temptedthreads.blogspot.com/2...-restored.html
This series has a tool storage bin that actually tilts out to provide a larger flat sewing space ahead of the needle. The only problem I have with Rosie is that my sister keeps borrowing her for longer and longer periods before I get her back! LOL!
Like all mechanicals, she's a tiny bit heavy but she stays put pretty well and I have no trouble carrying her as I approach 70. When she gets too heavy, i'll invest in an old lady cart for us.

I hope you find a machine that meets your needs. I have a featherweight, a 58 year old Singer 401A, and a Viking 1200 (I think) and I use them all. I use my FW for mending mostly now.

I purchased the Pfaff Passport 3.0 recently. I love it! It's lightweight, and does a wonderful job for workshops, meetings & any other place I need to tote a machine. Good luck.

I have a small Janome that I take to club meetings and retreats. It was about $300. If you don't want to spend that much there are some nice lite weight Brothers available for under $150. All lite weight and nice machines. Just remember the more you pay, the more bells and whistles.

I have a Singer Featherweight that I use for sewing groups. Love it, it is light weight and sews a great seam.

You can get inexpensive Brother sewing machines that are perfect for what you want. Just visit Walmart. I'm pleased with my little Brothers and recommend them.

I find that if I work on a ufo, I want the same machine I started the project for. I just came back from a retreat and I took 2 machines, my Featherweight and my new Kenmore. I use the Featherweight because I had started with the Kenmore.

There were machines there from very expensive Babylock's to reclaimed machine.

As to lightweight machines the size and less features it has the lighter it is. It all about what you want to achieve at the retreat, but mostly to have fun.

I love my featherweight. Good luck have fun shopping for a machine!