Sewing machine for a recreational quilter can be very simple and should be very reliable. Basic mechanical Janome fits this description well.
First sewing machine I used was a beautiful hand-crank Singer. The family legend is that the machine was from the spoils of World War II. It could stich through a leather belt or six layers of waterproof canvas, it took every thread and every needle, it never missed a stich. I was very enthusiastic about it in my teens. My grandfather wired it himself and replaced the crank with a peace-time spoil of an industrial pedal. Electrified, it was downright scary. That canvas tent is still around in my parents' house. That machine was not so good on fine fabric.
My current machine is as close to a modern reincarnation of the old one as possible. It's a mechanical Janome (no model name) made in Japan, with a simplest, most basic interface. It has an extending table, three needle position, a knob to set the stitch length, a knob to set the stitch width, and a reverse button. That's it. It was about $180 on sale circa 2000. It survives certain neglect -- I probably should never say so if I'm to pass qualified to talk about sewing machines, but the truth is that I sometimes forget to oil it or to dust it, and the machine works with no complain. I use it for machine piecing and quilting. It takes all kinds of fabric I use for quilting, including crepe-de-chine and heavy upholstery. It can do free-motion quilting with a darning presser foot or with no presser foot. It can zig-zag through the cotton-batted quilt. It's only drawback is that this machine is rather small. The motor needs to cool down between runs of quilting -- but when, I need this breaks, too. The opening between the needle and the motor makes maneuvering a king-size quilt tricky. The allowance between the foot and the feed dogs is rather slim for a bulky quit.