@osewme - It was thread that was leftover from one of my mom's projects several years ago, so yeah, probably not the greatest quality at this point
@Barb in Louisiana - No, I don't hold the ends of the thread. I typically have enough excess thread that it just kind of drapes off to the side (The older machine doesn't have one of the extended tables/sewing surface)
@sewbizgirl - That's probably the most likely culprit, as this was my first big project and I was started/stopped fairly frequently.
@Onebyone - That's another likelihood and something I've caught happening quite a bit.
I'll be getting a new machine for my birthday in a few weeks, so I'm hesitant to buy anything else for this one - but I appreciate the advice!