I wind my own with a stand alone winder. I use whatever thread I have that matches my project but bottom line is the one I use most. I did not take any classes other than learning the loading process. I just jumped in with both feet and felt like I could practice on plain muslin. I did many sandwiches and cut them down for drag-around quilts for the grands. They didn't care what they looked like. Just be sure to give yourself time to learn and lots of practice. It is so much easier to do than sitting at a domestic machine and fighting it under the arm.