oh my gosh! Thank you so much everybody. Let's see if I can sum up the answers.
1) Yes, I will admit, I was trying to use the darning foot for the straight stitching. When I try to use my regular presser foot, the quilt doesn't move very well, mucgh less evenly. And as I am just beginning with this idea of MQ I have not bought a walking foot. I know when I do I need to get one specifically for my machine and not just a generic one, but budgets.... So, I guess I will try again with the regular foot.
2)I didn't think the darning foot was supposed to sit against the fabric the same, I just wanted to check since there were more than 2 differnt feet for my machine that were listed as being good for FMQ. Needed to make sure i had the right one, or if there really is a right one. I guess that's basically a personal choice.
3) I knew that I could make the foundation stitches cross, I just don't know about crossing them when I go to background quilt. I've been watching videos on Leah Day's 365 FMQ designs blog (if you haven't seen them, it's AWESOME!!), but she always demonstrates on something like a 4-inch square. And I never know about just you-tubing videos...not all of the people who put up videos actually know what they're doing ya know?
4)Practice makes perfect. I know. I want to be perfect without the practice though? Maybe? Think it's possible?
5) I am putting on my Christmas list one of those little extension tables for my machine...I think that will help with the tension issues, since I was trying to work with the small 5-ish inches of my machine. Now to convince my m-in-law that this would be the perfect gift....I wonder if I could get her to throw in a walking foot too....
Thanks again.