I have a Sapphire 870....last week I went to a "foot"" demo......when I mentioned problems with some threads she showed me....if you raise the handle on your machine you can see some little rectangle holes.....guess what? you can BUY special thread holders that fit into those holes...then the larger thread spools will fit nicely on them and should help with the way the thread feeds through your machine. apparently the Sapphire is the same body as most of their embroidery machines so it has alot of the same hiccups, but not as many of the advantages.... Personally I HATE the way this machine loads a bobbin.(I have had a Lily 540 for years) ...and I don't really like the way the foot slightly lifts each time you stop sewing when in the needle down position.....BUT.....I DO REALLY LIKE the 10" harp area......I guess it's a give & take world.... usually I use a gutermann or a mettler 50 weight for piecing, and a 40 weight for machine quilting....HTH