A suggestion given to me and it worked really well, is to purchase felt, load it and practice on it. No need to sandwhich it if you don't want. It's just for you to practice your movements. I totally agree with AmandasGrandma about Mqrescource. I took the feather class there and oh what a difference it makes. Watch video after video. The crafty class someone else mentioned about Quilting Negative Space is good too! What kind of long arm did you buy? YOu will want to know people, even on-line that have the same machine for the ins and outs of that particular machine!