I've done stitch in the ditch, use my walking foot a lot and also fmq. As fas as fmq goes, you just need to practice a lot, first by drawing the design on paper or a dry mark board (less paper waste). Then when you are comfortable with the design, try stitching it on your machine. Puddle the quilt top around the needle, spread out your fingers around the needle and try to keep an even speed and fabric movement. Wearing gloves with sticky dots or a coating on the fingers is very helpful, since your fingers won't slide on the fabric or you might try placing a 4" X 6" piece of sticky shelf liner under each hand. Watching someone else do fmq might help. Go to :
http://www.daystyledesigns.com Also start on fairly small projects like table runners, placemats or just scrap sandwiches.