First of all, congratulations on your new toy!! Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it!!
Now, how I started was this - I found less-than-wonderful tops - yard sales, Salvation Army stores, flea market, etc. - and loaded them with some very old fabric that someone gave me when their grandmother passed away (double-knit polyester!!!) as my backing. And just started stitching away!! I didn't worry about getting it perfect, I just wanted to start learning about my machine and how to use her. My dogs have quite a few of those polyester-backed quilts in their beds.
Don't stress over your stitches not looking perfect - we are our own worst critics. Just relax, and spend this time learning your machine (they each have their own personality, you know!) Learning how your machine likes the tension, finding out if it is a picky eater (some of them are very particular about certain brands of thread), finding out if it has batting preferences, all of those are the things you want to learn about right now. I know that if you were to contact any of the well-known LA'ers, they would all tell you that their work was NOT fantastic the first time they started with their LA machine.
And another thing I do (especially when I'm trying to learn a new technique) is get preprinted (cheater) tops. That way, you have the visual effect of a pieced top, but without the time or expense of a pieced top.
Purchase a dry-erase board and dry-erase markers, and practice DRAWING the FMQ designs (feathers, flowers, whatever) on that first. You will develop the muscle-memory for those motions, and you will get better and better, then when you go to the machine, it's a lot less stressful and your stitching will be better than you might expect.
And someone else suggested the Red Snappers... may I suggest a less expensive alternative? Mondo clips on Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Clip-n-Seal-Mo...clips+quilting
There are 10 in the package, this gives you PLENTY for your leaders, and even leaves you with some extras that you can cut down to whatever size you need, depending on the size of the quilt you load. They are essentially the same thing as the Red Snappers or Leader Grips, and a LOT cheaper.
And BTW... I've had my machine for about 6 years now... and I'm only just now starting to LA for other people. And I'm STILL working on improving my feathers.
Good luck - relax - have fun - and give yourself permission to NOT be perfect!!!