I am also learning to FMQ and find it frustrating. Hate to waste time "practicing" want to get to the "doing" part :) An.yway, I learned something from a link on this site, I believe. If your machine has more than one speed, put it on the slowest. That way you don't have to worry so much about co-ordination between foot and hand. Second was put stitch length on zero. Both of these gave me a little more confidence. Hope it works for you