I have three vikings right now, Interlude, 1+ and Designer 1. Love them all. I found out not to use Gutterman thread, for some reason it spits it out. ha I use Coatsand Clark dual purpose thread. Also, use top thread needle or ballpoint when fmq. needles do matter on these machines. I do love mine. Inherted 1+ really am impressed with it. Sister had made good choice on machine. Also, may need to make sure its threaded through tension disc correctly. I wasnt threading the Designer 1 correctly.