Hi all...I have a Janome 300e and I too stared at the machine for a loooong time before actually using it..I finally sat down with the instruction book and went through the thing several times...my machine is an embroidery only machine and can embroider up to 5 x 7...I made tons of stuff for Christmas and only screwed up 2 so feel like continuing on now...Embroidery Library is one of my favourite places and there is lots of great tutorials there on embroidering on everything from fabric to wood...