Long Arm Quilting machines are designed to sew left to right standing in front of the machine and right to left standing behind using the laser on a pantograph or board. This is the way the bobbin is designed to pick up the thread and make a stitch. When it is ran in the opposite direction, the stitch does not form correctly, not to say you can't get by with it, as usually the batting will make it less noticeable. I was an HQ dealer for 4 years and took my training in Utah at the HQ headquarters. Long Arm machines are pretty forgiving and do make circles and lots of other shapes, but if you really look at the stitches, you will see your best ones will be as stated above, left to right in front of the machine.