You don't have to start out with free motion quilting. I think its a lot easier to start with a walking foot and just make wavy lines both ways for cross hatching. That way you don't have to worry about making even stitches or staying in a straight line; the machine takes care of stitch length, and whatever you do will look as if you intended it!
Another suggestion I would make is to starch your backing fabric (I starch mine heavily) before creating the quilt sandwich. Starch stabilizes the backing fabric so you are much less likely to get unwanted puckers and tucks.
I would also recommend spray basting the quilt sandwich. This is much faster and easier than more traditional methods. There are several threads on the board about how to spray baste.
Free motion quilting is probably the hardest of all machine quilting techniques to master. Using a walking foot is much easier, and perhaps a better place for a beginner to start.