Is it normal that I have a fear of starting to quilt my first piece. I have pieced several tops but just can't make myself do the quilting. Afraid I'll make a mess. How does one overcome this block?

Take two old pieces of cloth, put flannel or batting in between, sit down at your sewing machine, lower the feed dogs, put on the free motion/darning foot and go to town. Play for awhile and you will start getting ideas, a heart here, a leaf there and soon you will be comfortable. Have fun...

That's what seam rippers are for. There is always the do-over!

You're not alone, I have the same fear. I've got a quilt on the table, all pinned up, trying to figure out what to do. I want it to look nice, but I'm not very good yet at FMQ. I've done several quilts & found that 'doodling' my design on paper over & over helps (I use a big 2'x3' art pad), followed by practice pieces on the machine. But first you have to figure out what to doodle! lol!

Practice on small sandwich blocks made from scraps. Works for me.

Practice on a cheater panel.
Go to the Laeh Day website and check out her sample patterns. Then practice, practice, practice.

I have only done Stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on my machine for the same reason you described. Now I am signed up for 8 sessions of quilting instruction starting in 2 weeks. I figure it will still be cheaper than sending all the UFO tops to the long-arm quilter.

Give yourself permission to not be perfect. That helps.

sorry about the 3 posts - my computer froze or something; my computer drives me crazy!

I think we've all been there! I put one on the frame and will spend days looking at it before I jump off the cliff and take that first stitch! It gets better with practice.

YES! the only way to get over the fear of doing it is by doing it!

After you have taken fabric and flannele and played as Hobo advised, then take a practice sample like the real piece you want to quilt. Use the same weight fabric as your quilt top and the same weight as your backing, and the same batting that you plan on using.

Go ahead and practice on that sandwich the same quilting motifs that you want on your quilt. You will get good with time. And half the game is what you learn; the other half is the confidence you gain.

I find a thin poly batt tends to stick to my cotton top pretty well and not slide so much.

Mine always sit on the frame a few days while I decide what I want to do. Once I convince myself to start its all OK.