Congrats on your new machine - I have a Sapphire 875Q - I love mine - I love how it raises the foot when you stop so if you need to turn your fabric - its much easier - also love that the foot pedal will raise or lower the foot too - It's a great machine - when I first bought mine - I didn't do the classes because I live so far from the dealer - so I went about 4 months and finally found out I wasn't threading the bobbin correctly - so I would say that the classes are very helpful. I think I would go crazy if I had to be away from my machine for that long.