I agree with a lot of what quilters have already posted. I actually was lucky enough to take a quilting class from Harriet Hargrave. I own her book and I refer to it when ever I have a question. She taught me to look ahead to where I am going, not where the needle is at the present. She also taught me to match the speed of the machine and then to move the fabric at the same pace that the sewing machine would do at that particular speed. It is just like riding a bike without the training wheels. I agree with what SewSew says....
Originally Posted by
SueSew
Practice, Patience and Persistence. You can read all the books and watch the videos but nothing compare to just sitting there messing with it. And after two years I am still doing just that. Good luck! I recently tried hand quilting and despite the great difficulty, at least it was easy to pull out the stitches I didn't like!