Tippy,
Congrats!!
I bought the same machine a few months ago. It does great. My only problem is the throat is only 5.5". There is no way that I will be able to quilt a king on it so i'm going to try the fun and done. I've quilting a baby quilt on it and it worked out fine. I'm almost ready to free motion a lap size but that will have to wait for a few weeks. Going on vacation at the end of the week (Yeah!).
Oh, and when I use my cone of thread to piece I place it in a vase behind the machine.
Have fun!