I am just learning to FMQ and was having great difficulty because my machine was skipping stitches over huge areas. The owner of the shop where I bought it (who's a little snippy I might add) said it was all my problem because I didn't know what I was doing. So when I took my machine in for it's free first year maintenance, I had the girl who accepted make a note of the problem. When I picked up my machine, the owner's husband who is a Bernina certified technician said that there was indeed a problem and he took care of it. With the price of Bernina's I think the consumer needs to be persistent in demanding service. I was willing to accept responsibiilty if I was doing something wrong, but it turned out it WAS a machine programming error. So stick to your guns and insist that you get a machine that works. I love my Bernina, but with what I paid for it, I expect it to perform!