I enjoy the piecework, but then I ran into the fact that I didn't LIKE Stitch In the Ditch. YUCK! So I invested in a "hopping foot" and then jumped in. I Free Motion Quilted a bed runner, with a mini pattern from an old quilting magazine I had saved for years. I wasn't happy with the way it turned out, my stitches weren't even, I could see every wobble of the lines, etc. Then I took that to work, and WOWED the crowd of non-quilters! Hmmm, that made me feel good!
Take a deep breath, start SMALL! and enjoy the learning process. Does your machine have some interesting stitches? I've used the 3 step zig-zag with variegated thread and stitched across the quilt in a grid. Turned out really cute.
Recently I discovered the "Pebble" pattern. Remember drawing circles learning how to write? Pretty much the same pattern, but with thread. Ignore the quilt top pattern, do an all over Pebble (for the baby quilt, I'm calling it Bubbles!) I still can't wrap my brain around stippling, but circles? No problems! And the texture is instant and really fun. And by the time I finished the first 200 circles, I found myself relaxing and they looked better and better. I took my breaks when I ran out of bobbin thread! That first Pebble quilt, thread color was fluorescent PINK on top and mauve thread on bottom! And the baby I gifted it to, doesn't care if all the lines aren't perfect!
Good luck and Happy Quilting!