tjradj

I agree with those who have suggested to use your Brother. You're familiar with it. You may need to consult the manual on how best to set it for a darning or freemotion quilting setting, but for piecing and stitch in the ditch or straight line quilting, it will handle that with ease.
For your own ease, try to stick with a thinner (flatter) cotton batting rather than a fluffy polyester. It won't shift as much and will fit under your needle easier.

twinkie

My DH and I collect antique and vintage sewing machines, mostly Singers. I just love my little featherweight. Right now I am sewing on a 1950 and I love it. It is not cosmetically great because someone took an engraving tool and put a phone number in 1" letters in 3 places on the machine. However, we got it very reasonable and it sews like a charm. One thing I have noticed when viewing E-Bay. Vintage and antique sewing machines in the UK are generally in better physical condition than many in the US. I do FMQ with my Featherweight on smaller projects and it does a fine job. They also have attachments such as buttonholer, a zigzag attachment and several other attachments. In MHO, the fancier the machine, the more can go wrong with it. I have a fancy Janome Embroidery machine that I do fancy sewing with. But, for the basics, I love my Featherweight. Not sure what 100 pounds is worth in the UK but know it is more than $100. I would just look around, check with others and make your own decision. Good luck.

quiltsRfun

Unless you've got your heart set on a featherweight another option might be a Singer 301. They're known as the featherweight's big sister. Not quite as cute as a FW and I bit bigger but a real work horse and less expensive.

featherweight

Actually that would be my choice if I wanted a real workhorse...

RuthFru

I have my mothers featherweight and love it. It is limited to the straight stitch so you can't do a lot with it. I take it to workshops and have pieced a few quilts with it. I would suggest you use the Brother's for now and spend the money on fabric and thread. When you can afford to play with your money then look for a Featherweight if you are still interested in them.

twinkie

I have a 301 also and it is a great machine. It is a little heavier than the Featherweight but a great machine.

Numa

I prefer the 301. You can do more with it since it has the ability to drop the feed dog and since it's gear driven, it's more powerful. Only slightly heavier and just as pretty!

twinkie

My 301 is 19 pounds, my featherweight is 11 pounds. When I do FMQ with the featherweight I just loosen the pressure foot pressure with the top screw and it works well. I do sew on my 301 from time to time and must say it is a nice machine but I love sewing on my featherweight. One big advantage the 301 has is that it is generally much cheaper to purchase. Good luck in whatever machine you choose. In MHO, the older Singers have a lot less problems than the newer ones.