Update.... My new machine is functioning perfectly. I'm tickled pink with it. I had to adjust the height of the hopping foot and since doing that, I've had beautiful stitches, front and back.
She delivered my replacement table yesterday and it's nice and smooth.
I'll be posting up some practice pieces later on in the week. I wanted to kick out a few practice pieces before diving in to my stack of unfinisheds...

I can't wait to see some of your work! Have fun!