Definately get yourself quilting gloves. I noticed a big improvement after I bought my Machingers. Use a batt that is mostly cotton will help also. The cotton fabric and cotton batt seem to hold better to each other. I love Hobbs 80/20 fusible batt for quilting but many on QB love the 505 basting spray to make the quilt sandwich. You can also pin bast or use thread but I can't get a good pace going when I have things to avoid stitching over. As others have said, practice, practice, practice.