Thank you for all of your thoughts....I have triple checked the manual, and the thread is following the correct pathway. I am using Bernina bobbins...and, actually, Tartan, the horizontal thread in the pic is the machine thread-there is a separate vertical spindle that the bobbin thread spool sits on....maybe that's the issue. I will see if I can wind a bobbin from the horizontal spool....I use aurifil 50wt, and occasionally, a bobbin will wind all neat and pretty....no rhyme nor reason!