Grandma Pepsi, I have not gone through this entire thread just the first page but I like you am trying to teach myself to FMQ and if you look at professional quilters like Diane Gaudenski (sp) and definitely Patsy Thompson (who by the way has tutorials on You Tube) use only a domestic machine. I figure if it's good enough for them and they win all kinds of awards it's sure good enough for me. I also use a etch a sketch kind of thing that I bought for one of my grandkids to practice with instead of wasting reams of paper.