You cannot do FMQ with the feed dogs up. It goes against the definition of FMQ.
If you are unsure of what you are doing, you should practice with sandwiches of fabric/batting/fabric until you get the hang of it.
On the first quilt, I think you should have some curvy lines. You can draw you design out on paper, on a white board or on acrylic with erasable markers. Good luck and have fun!