I doodle A LOT. You should see my writing pad at work when meetings get boring. lol Doodling and repeating a specific pattern creates muscle memory which will help your brain guide the hands once you have a sandwich under the needle.
I do not use an important top on practice runs or new patterns. That way I don't have to concentrate on being "perfect" - instead I can focus on the pattern.
I took quite a few craftsy classes and each one taught me something new or a different way to approach the sandwich.
As everyone has already stated - just practice and you will see improvements in no time.
It is important to find what Cindy Needham calls the hum-purr. That is the sweet spot between the speed of your hands moving the quilt and the speed of the machine. Once you got that, the rest gets easier.
When doing curves, don't speed up or you'll have long galloping stitches. (Ask me how I know)
Finally, have fun with it.