I don't know if this will be helpful, but I have a fairly new fancy computerized machine that has a FM foot and feature. I have tried every which way to use it just as the book instructs, but gave up and here is how I go around those little flowers and houses. I use the regular foot, not the FM foot. I leave the feed dogs UP. I lower the pressure to the very lowest it will go. (.05) This works really great for me, and I have mastered FM quilting now. With the feed dogs down, it just smashed my quilt so it would barely move at all. With the dogs up, I can still go in circles around the little pictures or words on the fabric.