Originally Posted by ckcowl
start small, make placemats or even pot holders and practice and as your stitches become more even and you can make some designs start getting larger and larger until you 'ease' into a bed sized quilt. it all takes practice but if you start small it will not take that long to be doing large quilts. there are some amazing quilters out there that manuver huge quilts on a regular sewing machines and do fabulous designs. just remember practice makes perfect.
I agree with the above, start small and as you gain skill, increase the size of the quilt you work on. Placemats are great to start with or even before that, make some practice sandwiches from muslin or scrap fabric - say 12" X 12". Try using a contrasting thread color, so you can see your stitches. Then practice, practice and practice some more. I also puddle my quilt around the needle and spread my fingers out so that area right around the needle is flat. I've used new garden gloves that have a coating on them, that's makes holding the fabric easy, but you can also use a hand sized piece of shelf liner instead. I just read about doing this, and that might be easier, since you don't need to remove a glove to tie a knot or thread the needle. There are many tutorials on here as well as on the web that show you, but the main thing is to just do it!