Piece bypiece is right; you should check with your dealer for classes; they are worth it to go to all that you can. It does sound like you want to "float" your fabric on your hoop instead of hooping the fabric. Hoop your stabilizizer; uyse either the stitcky, or there is one that you can wet and it makes it sticky or you can use something like 505 and spray the stabilizer and then your fabric goes on top of that. There are lines on your hoop for the center of your hoop so that is how you lign you fabric to get it centered and then you can usually move you needle to center it more. If you have a big quilt make sure it is well supported so that it doesnt pull on the fabric.