My suggestion....don't expect to be perfect the first time out. It took me almost two years to figure out which thread my machine likes. I rushed in to getting a bunch of thread from Ebay. My friend uses them all the time. But my machine didn't like them at all. I tried different threads, stablizers, bobbin thread. My machine also does not like the prewound bobbins. Don't start with a real dense design. Starch your fabric, I use spray basting between my fabric and stabilizer. It may not work for you. Just keep trying until you get the effect you want. I now know what my machine likes and doesn't like, and I've been using it almost every day. I love it and it was worth all the aggravation. So go slow, and have fun.