Originally Posted by sewingpup

If you can, test them out. For piecing you basically need a machine that has a nice straight stitch ...that is it....now if you want one that does other things, that is another story. I am now a total believer, that the more machines the better if you have space. I do use my more basic machines for piecing as some of the fancier ones, just don't give a good straight stitch and it is hard to get a good 1/4 inch seam. So if piecing is your main use, I would, if possible bring some fabric and try and do a nice straight stitch with a quarter inch seam on the machine...also a good idea to also bring some triangle pieces and try them out to. Some machines love to eat the points on triangle pieces when doing things like half square triangles etc.