1. Mark out your quilt with Crayola Ultra Clean markers/crayons (or something similar).
2. Buy a Darning/FMQ foot for your machine
3. Invest in some Machinger's quilting gloves (you need Saddle Soap to clean them -- avail. at Target)
4. Use 50 wt thread that matches the background
5. Practice on something small -- changing pad, pet quilt, etc
6. Just do it!
Your first attempts are not going to be great. That's just how it is. I saw one quilting teacher who suggested it takes 8 hours to learn to do anything that looks decent. I think that's true. And it probably takes about that again when you work on the next design.
Here's my first attempt. It's not perfect, but I pulled out very few stitches. The only times I unsewed was if (1) the stitches didn't form so I had loops, (2) if the stitches were so tiny they were puckering the fabric, or (3) if the stitches were at least 3x the size of the target stitch size.
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The white/pink is done with the white all over stipple. I created a leafy vine for the outer border that I did in a variegated blue. Can't even see it at all. Gotta love busy fabrics.
