Hello from Oklahoma. The best advice I have learned about free motion is...let yourself stop. Nobody said we had to quilt at the speed of light. And when you have to think about where to go or what to do with the next stitch..lift your foot OFF of the pedal and stop. I felt like a dumb when that light bulb went off. I'm always in such a hurry and when things don't turn out right...its 90% my lead foot problem. Now I'm going to concentrate on my back looking as neat as the front.