I play with pen and paper, not pencil and paper! I doodle and zentangle and color with crayons...the point is to relax and let the lines flow. Sometimes it is a mess but inside the mess is a portion of a dsign I like. I then repeat that part of the design over and over until it belongs to me and off I go to the Longarm or the sitdown machine to stitch. I try to do the drawing to limber up and ease my tension before starting any FMQ. I hope this helps.