I also have tried FMQ but always revert back to either grid quilting or hand quilting. I have made small pieces and do ok with stippling, but when you get a large quilt and start in the middle..... how do you handle the other half of the quilt that is inside the machine. I can't "freely" move the area that I am working on with all that bulk. I always seem to end of with small pointy stitches and I end up picking it out. I have tried rolling it up, throwing it over my shoulder. What do you guys do?