I will jump in here and put in my stitches worth. I am just learning FMQ, also. My machine is a Viking basic- no electronics. I do the darning foot and lower the top tension a bit.I have tried feed dogs down but prefer them up. I wear a pair of garden gloves with those litle nubbies on the palms and fingers. No slick anything underneath. I will post a pic in a few days of the one I am doing now. It isn't perfect but there are no quilt police. It is a lot faster than hand quilting, although I still love that a lot. I can see that I have a lot more practice to do but will keep at it. Figure when the quilt is done, most folk won't notice the little mistakes. It will be warm to snuggle under and that is all that counts.