I know how to do stitch in the ditch but I want to do others. I am not ready for the feather and that one scares me. How do I know what stitch to pick when I quilt? Is there somewhere that I can look for patterns or samples?

I like to find simple continuous line stencils and use those. I have also traced around my "view and do" hearts and other shapes around the house. I am not proficient in FMQ--but I am trying to get there!

Look for stencils in the LQS and then stitch around those designs. Sound to me like you are ready for FMQ. You need a darning foot or a free motion foot and then drop your feed dogs on your machine. Practice is the bigest thing and os yes.....breathe. When I learned to FMQ, the instructor said to turn on the raido and sing. You develop a rythum and the quilting comes easier.