Because this problem has been going on for over 6 months it has been in the repair shop twice in the last 4 months and has been cleaned and oiled properly. Not wanting to stick more money into quilting I ALMOST gave up and sold everything off as opposed to buying a new machine. Yesterday it loved Gutterman thread. But it's pouring down rain here today and I didn't want to go out to buy thread, so I grabbed a spool of Connecting Threads baby blue and loaded up the machine on the frame to try it again. Stitches are perfect!! But two rows from the bottom the thread broke...o.k. that's no biggie. Maybe my Janome just needed a 6 month vacation? At any rate...one Project Linus got quilted yesterday, one is almost finished today, and I have another ready to go tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me please.