It may be that your Janome is my Janome's evil twin. I have not liked my machine and have had a lot of problems with it. Less than a month ago, I bought a Juki TL-98Q and the difference is unbelievable! I am on my 10th quilt tonight with no thread issues, tension problems, skipped stitches, jamming, bunching or growling. The Juki was cheaper too!