I was in the same boat as you - I bought my long arm two and half yrs ago - I really did not know anything before I purchased it - I have learned on my own - I bought videos - watched you-tube and purchased books - I can honestly tell you that one book and class made a huge difference for me - It's Angela Walters - she wrote a book called Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters - also she a Craftsy class called Machine Quilting Negative Space - Her book and class made all the difference in the world to me - it does take practice - but she really made the task seem so much easier and broken down in segments that I could handle. Good luck and I promise you will love Angela Walters.