I have the brother 1500 as well and I've been loving it for FMQ! I agree with experimenting with needles/thread and adjusting tension. I always have to do a little practice when I get going to make sure it's adjusted correctly. Even if I'm working on the same project, every time I start for the day I do a test. I also just got a cone of superior 'omni' thread and it seems to really work nicely on this machine.
