Love all the designs! I have the Brother SE270D and also the PE700II. Love both of them. At first embroidery is a mix of finding the right fabric and stabilizer combination. Most of the time any problems are connected with this combination. Also thread/needle combination. Since the machines stitch at high speed, the friction of thread thru needle can cause it to fray or break. I use the Large Eye Needles and this basically eliminates the problems. Also use a Metallic Needle when stitching with the metallic thread. Brand of thread matters too. Test out what your machine likes! It seems the Brothers (or at least mine) likes the poly, hates the rayon!! It also doesn't like Coats & Clarks either. I use Mettler, Metro and Arc (Poly X) because of the cost. I don't use Sulky because it is rayon. There are some great tips on embroidery library.com (embrlibrary.com, I think) that helps a lot with the whole thread, fabric, needle, stabilizer combinations!! GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!