I've been practicing for about a year now. I've gotten better with a meandering stipple and I feel pretty good doing that, and I bought the book Hooked on Feathers. That really helped me. I had not been doing quilts for a while...mainly sewing purses and crafts, but a friend asked me to quilt an old crib size baby quilt that her mother pieced 30 - 35 years ago, but had never put it together. Talk about scary! I felt like I was so out of practice. I'm doing the meandering stipple on it. I've been so worried that I'll mess up the delicate stitching of her mom's. So far, so good.