When you free motion quilt the quilt needs to move freely. Use a foot made for FMQ or if you don't have that use a darning foot. The feed dogs need to be down to allow you to move the fabric freely. Don't feel bad about the way your first attempt turned out, if it came out even resembling free motion with the feed dogs up and a walking foot on you are probably a natural doing it. Try setting up your machine as I tried to describe and try again on a test sandwich, you'll be amazed at the difference.