Go to "quiltville.com" and click on "leaders and enders". She shows some great quilts made just from the leaders & enders from working on other projects. Check it out; it's inspirational.

My janome 6600p made a nest under the fabric, I hate it. I do use a piece of fabric when starting out but if you are sewing something and have to start in the middle of the fabric, you cant start out on a piece of fabric or pull up the threads, you just have to put up with the nest on the bottom and trim the threads as close as possible, it does have the thread cutter, but that can create a problem, I do love the way it sews though.