I sew/quilt with my Brother 1500 and HATE the thread cutter!!!! I like to pull out a nice long thread tail and then cut it off....when I use the thread cutter feature, it would cut the tails so short, that the thread always pulled out of the needle and I had to re-thread. figured the 2-3 inches of ''wasted'' thread was so much better than the frustation I felt every time I used the thread cutter and had to stop and re-thread. LOVE the needle up/down function and LOVELOVELOVE the entire machine...she sews as good as the day I brought her home almost 10 years ago!!!!!