Whenever I sell a machine I tell the person that they need to take a day, a bit of fabric, a large pot of coffee and just play with the machine. Just like when you get a new car and take it out for a drive - do that, learn the buttons and dials, see what it can do. Even play with the stitches and using a sharpie, mark down what stitch, length and width next to the stitch line and keep it in the drawer as a cheat sheet. Folks are so anxious to jump into making a project, they do not realize how much they will benefit from learning their tool first. AND IT'S FUN!!!