Welcome to longarm quilting. It took me about 3 yrs to feel really good about my ability to turn out consistant high quality work. You will find that doing pantographs will make you the most money. You should practice practice and practice some more. Just load up some muslin and work on pantos and free hand designs..over and over until you're happy with your work. Drawing is something else that helps tremendously. Learning how to do feathers is something that takes a lot of drawing and practice. I've spent hours practicing to on paper to get a design down pat then go to the machine and practice some more. You should join the Machine Quilters Professional yahoo group. There is a wealth of experienced longarm quilters available to help you with questions.
If there is a longarm quilter in your area that offers classes take the time to take some classes..there is nothing better than a private hands on class. I love to teach longarm quilting.
If you can try to go to some to the national longarm quilting shows...MQX is the one I've been to a number of times and taken classes. I don't know where you live but there are shows all over the country now and it's really worth the money to go. You'll come away inspired by the best of the best.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.
Anna