I feel your pain. I've been trying to FMQ over the past 4-5 quilts. I think I have gotten better over time, however I just finished one that I am really not very happy with the quilting. The quilting I used this time was only meandering. I haven't really done a lot of meandering, but am fairly comfortable doing FMQ (once I get the speeds coordinated). To me the top looks like it was just scribbled on in places. The culprit is definitely the thread color. I matched the thread to one of the color and to the main color on the back, but where the quilting goes through lighter colors is where it looks bad. I am not going to change it though....live and learn. :)