Is it possible to adjust the amount of pressure on the presser bar? If you can lighten that up, that will make the motion less "jerky," but you will probably also have to speed up the machine to match the speed of your hands in order to eliminate that jerky sensation entirely.
When the machine speed and the speed of your motion are in synch, you can barely feel the hopping foot as it pushes down momentarily.
Try experimenting with a quilt made of batting sandwiched with muslin on the outside - about 16 - 18" squares of materials that you don't care about very much.
Once you fill up your sandwich area with stitching, you can put layers of muslin over both sides and use it again and again until it's too stiff to use any more. At which time you can use it for stiffener inside tote bags or hot pads or whatever.