Lots of good advice here, as always. I am by no means an expert or even particularly good, but do feel better & better about my fmq all the time. I bought the little Gidget sewing table that Leah Day sells on her website, that allows me to have a flat surface. That and making sure you have plenty of space behind and to the left of your machine to support your quilt really, really makes a difference. Also, I taped clear vinyl on top of my table and that helps a whole lot in moving the quilt around, makes the surface slippery. That being said, I think I do better leaving my feed dogs up. Go figure. Do keep working on it. When it starts to kind of come together it is soooo much fun!