I have machine quilted 59 quilts and I only do FMQ and mine are no where near perfect, in fact some earlier ones look better than most recent ones. I think I have been trying to hurry and probably work too long at a time. Use to only quilt a couple of hours an evening, now I try to do it in a couple of days. I think I try to FMQ too fast and me and the speed of the machine get out of whack.