I gave up with the practice blocks and jumped in "headfirst" into 58 x 58 quilts, from there, went to 118 x 118 and am doing them ever since. Yes, I still have a slight issue with uniform stitch length, but it is the "practice that makes perfect." - I give all my quilts away anyway and the recipients love them. None of them are machine quilters, so they don't even think to examine the stitching under a microscope. Just have fun. I do machine quilting because I have many quilts to make and if I wait to hand quilt them all, I won't live long enough!!