I also am an advocate of practicing first! Use a muslin sandwich or sew some scrap blocks together to practice with. I am starting to learn to long arm (rent time) and find the learning curve steep. So, I will go next week with a couple of sandwiches to practice on first because I don't want to mess up the quilt I made for a wedding. First step is to define your concept of 'quilting' your quilt. Free motion quilting means many different things to different people. Is the use of stencils free motion quilting? What if you do feathers? You can draw them; use stencils; or just use the machine needle and your imagination. This is purely personal, but, I do not like overall quilting that looks like a mattress pad and don't want to use that technique. So, as others have said, practice, practice and decide what your definition of quilted is. Then, with each project, grow your skills from that point. But, most of all, enjoy the process.