I was intimidated by machine quilting and have never done anything larger than a baby quilt. I have done several with simple cross-hatching (diagonal straight lines). But I am teaching myself freemotion with small things, meandering on a set of placemats, ect. I did take a class when my Guild had quilt college. What they taught to increase skill and confidence was practice sandwiches. I made 4 sandwiches with 2, 18" squares of cheap muslin and batting in the middle. Just let go and make swirls, write your name in cursive, make lines of "eee" ect. then try marking with a stencil and stitching over it. Panels for kids quilts are good too, just stitch on the lines or outline things (then you can bind them and donate). Warm up with a practive sandwich everytime you sit down to quilt. In time and with practice, you will get more confident. Have fun!