A LOT of practice sandwiches. Another thing that really made the difference was getting a non-hopping foot. Having that gliding foot just made everything so much easier for me. I use a Supreme Slider and Machingers. I've taken a couple of Craftsy classes, but mainly I have just practiced on quilt sandwiches until I could do whatever design I wanted.
I always spray baste my quilts.
The best class I took on Craftsy was Free Motion Quilting Essentials with Christina Camelli. Really basic, but showed lots of foundational designs to work from.
Now, if I could just get those feathers figured out!
Watson