Thank you very much. I will be giving this thread a second chance today. Quiltstrings: I wound some on a bobbin by hand and gave it a brief try using my regular thread on top. No bunching of the bobbin thread, but it was not a prolonged session, and I did not have time to change my top thread to match the bobbin. Maybe handwinding will do the trick; we'll see. Jan: All your suggestions sound great and will try all of them. I do have ballpoint/stretch needles, and I also have some fine bobbin thread on hand. will let you know the results.... LeeJay