I agree...gloves are a must..I got a pair of gardening gloves, that have the little plastic grippy dots on them..you can get them at the dollar store..and it makes it soo much easier to move the fabric around...a quilting foot is also the easiest way to do free motion, and probably the safest...I've tried with other feet, and no foot at all..Also there are also some great tools out there to use to draw on the quilt to follow a pattern..I use a marker that turns invisible when it dries.