I am doing fmq for the first time. It is far from perfect but I have decided I am just going to have fun. The one thing I have found is I do a lot better when I breathe. Yes I was finding myself holding my breath and tensing up. Relax, breath and enjoy. I have been promised that it will get better.
And Jan thanks for the straight line ideas. One of them will look perfect in one of my blocks.

I'm still very much a beginner FMQer, but make lots of practice sammiches and practice just meandering to work on getting your tension right and just getting a feel for speed, stitch length, etc. Then choose a pattern to sew, and just know that initially, it's going to look bad. If you get frustrated get up and walk around or try another FMQ pattern. I bounce around to different patterns when practicing - it cuts down on the frustration and eventually you realize that each one is improving. Yeah, practice, practice, practice.

It can be fun, I promise!

Leah Day has some good online help, I think she tells you not to drop the feed dogs. Gloves and practice, practice, practice, ask me how I know! No one is a lost cause.

I don't use gloves because I can't find any to fit my small hands. I'd sew the loose fingertips into the quilt! I use Quicksort, a lanolin based gel, like tellers use to count money. It works great, keeps my fingers soft, and I don't have to take it off when I take a break.

The more you do, the better you get. It also takes a cooperative sewing machine... Ones with the bobbin case set vertically work better than those with bobbin cases that are flat (horizontal).

Don't give up yet. I am pretty bad at it too, but I am better than I was. I believe it takes a great deal of practice and time, which I don't have much of right now. But I do believe the day will come when I won't be embarrassed by my work. Keep working on it, you will do fine in time.

Just practice a lot, a whole lot. Make up some quilt sandwiches and just do it over and over again.
I wear gloves with rubber nubs. Fabric dries out my hands so much, I can't move the sandwich. Just keep doing it and one day you will see you are pretty good.

I also have followed Leah Day's advice found at daystylequilts.com and on you-tube. Her ideas are the most helpful, I think. Before that started out trying stencils but found them much harder than the actual fmq. I feel it is just a matter of practice and not being too hard on yourself. I find that by the time I finish each quilt, I can see progress. Just hang in there!

I'm currently taking the Leah Day Craftsy class FMQ Sampler. The best thing I've learned so far is that you should come to a slow stop (with needle down) when you need to readjust your hands or the quilt, and then slowly start up again once you're comfortable...like driving a car...ease up on the gas before you stop and gradually give it gas again when you start. I always thought that once you started free motion you needed to keep moving, and that's how I got myself into the most trouble...pointy curves, giant ("toe-catcher") stitches, etc. (love that class, by the way)

I'm a novice. I started 9 months ago. Initially I practiced 1/2hour a day - treating it like piano practice from childhood. Some days I practiced folowing a line and other on consistent stitch length. Next I used a meander stencil to make several sets of placemats. Then I moved to doing charity quilts. I've done 31 of them so far. Each one is better than the last but far from perfect. I still don't do anything freehand. I mostly use pantographs -- trace them onto Golden Threads, needlepunch the paper, and pounce with iron off chalk onto the quilt. It's addictive.