Thank you this is very helpful. I have just been experimenting with the embroidery function with ordinary cotton I'd used in a kiddies quilt (kona solids). The stabilizer I bought is marathon can't at moment remember the weight but it is quite strong material. From what has been said here I'm pretty sure the answer is I've over tightened the fabric in the hoop. This is a relief because I wasn't too keen on the idea of tug of war/arm wrestling kind of battle I was having yesterday. It crossed my mind that if I was having this kind of battle with light cotton I'd struggle with a quilt! Speaking of which, and this really highlights my woeful knowledge, is it necessary to hoop a quilt sandwich to use some of the set patterns in the machines memory? Till now I've only ever free motioned my quilts either free hsnd or using a template and marker pen.