I've been using a slider pad on my sewing table. It makes it easier to move the fabric and discharges any static electricity that makes the fabric hop. I had never seen it "hop" until after the lecture. It's very impressive and really distorts the stitching. I heard about during a lecture at the Chicago Quilt Show. I wish I could remember the instructor. She was explaining that we tend to push the fabric around and don't get the rhythm of the sewing machine. This stresses the tension of the thread. She also explained the needle bending. Both of these cause breakage. If the thread is unwinding from the spool and rewinding on the spindal the tension increases exponentially. The slider pad helped to control my hand movements; a thread guide to keep it coming off the spool and not rewraping has made free motion so much easier.