as a beginner: stitch, pull thread, stretch fabric, smooth out newly quilted area, repeat. as prism99 says. It will soon become 2nd nature and you will get a feel for it. What you are trying to attain is consistency of tension. As the years go by, you will next try to attain consistently sized stitches and spacing. but don't even think about that until the tension is even and not too tight or too loose. Practicing quilting is very therapeutic. If you work too hard at perfection, you take all the fun and therapy out of the exercise.
A reminder on overall tightness, if in doubt, go looser than tighter, because when you wash a quilt with 100% cotton batting, and cotton fabric, it will pucker up like an antique quilt. If your tension was too tight and your design is closer than stitch lines being closer than 1/2 " from each other, your design could become so puckery that you cant recognize the stitching design.
Last edited by Jane Quilter; 08-26-2018 at 04:38 PM.