Actually, the time frame to get comfortable with FMQ and do a nice job is about 20 hrs of practice, over time, doesn't matter, your brain, eyes and hands learn to coordinate. One day you will realize that 'hey, I got it'.
My tip ... practice on a 6inch or 8 inch sandwich using one of Leah Day's designs and then you can even sew them together to create a place mat or wall hanging, whatever you like.
Look at the first link from Leah Day's blog and you can see where her quilting started, and how much she advanced quickly as she worked on her day by day designs. She shows great videos on how she FMQs. Lots of info
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...1_archive.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freemotionquilting/page12/
Good luck!