It can be very frustrating. I've been trying to learn it too. I have good days & bad days. I hope you are using FMQ gloves. There's a tute on the board about making a table around your machine. That helps with the drag on the quilt. And I found that some times with the tension it's not the machine, but the thread. I was using some cheap thread & it was really a loopy mess on the back. Don't give up.