I wanted to learn to do something besides just loops and meanders. I watched Rob Appell and Angela Waters videos and have been practicing. I loved Angela Waters videos and learned a lot from them. I agree with just making a sandwich and starting in. I wanted to be able to see what I was stitching and didn't have any plain fabric I wanted to sacrifice so i used and old solid green sheet. Stitched with pink leftover thread for good contrast. I'll probably do a couple more "learning sessions" and then start on my quilt. I'm doing the actual quilt in fine neutral low contrast thread so my mistakes won't show as much lol