A great way to practice is on placemats, table runners, hot pads/potholders, Charity lap/baby quilts, small wall art. They are easier to manuever through the machine because of the smaller size. Scrap quilts are also great to practice on. Start with a simple meander or loop de loops. Draw simple designs like hearts, stars etc. and connect them with curved lines as you stitch. Harriet Hargrave says the simplest design to do is the clam shell. I personally had a lot of trouble with that.