Even though my machine has tons of stitches, I very rarely use them, it does have some embroidery capabilities and I do use that when I make my labels, but still, it isn't often, since I'm not real fast with getting the actual quilt done. I have used some of my decorative stitches when making tee shirt quilts and quilt as you go quilts. I also would recommend taking classes if your DH purchased it from a dealer, other than that, I would just play around with it.