I just purchased a Janome 8200 (basically same machine with fewer fancy stitches). I understand your problem! I have been quilting on a Viking D1 for years with what I call the "floating" foot instead of the hopping. After practice I got pretty good with the floating foot and my quilting was great I thought. Now to the new Janome.....Really different... I tried all the feet also, the big plastic one works the best for me as it doesn't get caught over seams. The smaller feet seem to work better for really close quilting, like Leah Day shows you in her videos. I learned that 1. you have to adjust the foot height at a seam intersection so it is just slightly above that area. Don't make it too high but so it doesn't touch when you hit the highest point in your quilt 2. The machine sews so much faster than my other machine it is like learning the balance from speed of machine and hand movement all over again so I don't get eyelashes around curves 3. My stitches are still very small vs. my old machine. I haven't figured out how to get longer stitches yet but I'm sure I will When I started quilting years ago the only foot I could use on my really old machine was the "hopping foot" and it took me a while to get the technique with the floating foot. Now it's like starting all over again. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE is all I can say. Since I bought this machine for the 11 inch throat I'm committed to get good on this machine. The move from the hopping foot seemed so hard at first but after lots of practice I couldn't go back to the hopping foot again. I'm sure that is how we will feel with this machine also. I joined the Janome7700-8900 yahoo group and have learned we are not the only ones who has questions. I have learned that these machines are picky about threads and needle sizes.