I find if I sit and practice my design first on legal o butcher block (white) paper it helps. When FMQ my 4 Kings I taped blue masking tape across the center and quilted one half then turned and did the other end. I have a sapphire 850 and spinning that size was just too hard. After you have practiced on the paper hang it where you can glance at it occasionally. Always look ahead of your needle.

One thing a teacher taught us was that it can take 20 min. to get to the left side of your brain. She had us practice with pencil on paper the first class to get the idea of the flow of the motion. This somehow gets your brain to let go of logic and go to the creative area. Anyone know what I mean? Anyway, it kinda works when I give it time. So, I always start on the little block, potholder size so I can get the feel. The teacher had a bunch of her practice squares on a shower hook that she had kept to show us in the class. There were a lot so she obviously did it often before she started on her 'real' quilt. Repitition seems to be the hallmark of fmq.

Leah Days web site is great and she's just started a new weekly quilt along; she's on week 3 but she keeps it all up there.

After doing a couple of practice sandwiches, I found I needed to do something "real". I made some placemats and quilted those. Then I took a big print and quilted it using outline and echo quilting, using it for the front of a sofa pillow. Then I did a baby quilt. By the time I was done, I was getting quite comfortable. Each of the projects was small enough that if I messed them up I wasn't out a lot of money. However if they went well they were useful.

BTW: Leah Day's site is very good, and what she recommends works very well for her style of quilting - very dense, tight work, lots of double stitching - for wall hangings. It is not necessarily the only way to do things, particularly if you like softer, more drapey items for beds or lap rugs. I have used polyester thread, but I generally prefer a heavier thread (just because I like it!). I also frequently use quite different threads on the top and bottom. If you have problems with that, just keep adjusting your tension until it works with the threads you like. You might also like Patsy Thompson DVDs.

Pam

I have to recommend Leah Days website, also. Even if you don't want to use her quilting designs she has excellent information on setting up your FMQ area and other things to get you started. She has videos on you tube that are helpful from cutting fabric to quilting.

I recently tried making some baby burp cloths for my great grandchildren & used them to practice FMQ on. I do pretty well with free form swirly hearts now until I get tired. Then I go noticeably downhill. I even tried some free form stars, but I kind of stink at them yet. :-) It was fun though & the babies don't care if they're perfect! That way you can feel like you're accomplishing something with your practicing. Just a thought...

I tried FMQ once, and was so upset with what it looked like that I took the foot off, and went into a funk.. I will try it again, but I was having a hard time grasping that the sitches were all sizes, and the machine was moving faster than my brain was moving the sandwich.. I keep thinking there is an easier way that I am missing.. I'm seeing all of the beautiful quilts, and the needle works are unbeliveable. I can't understand how other's are doing it, and I'm not..
Will I ever get it? Am I missing something?
Barri

I have a Juki TL-98Q and I wear garden gloves, the ones that are cloth on the top and the palms are a thick rubber. I can get a good grip of the fabric and when they wear down, they turn back into garden gloves. Works for me.
Leah Day is fabulous, I like to see how she does the machine quilting from her videos. Diane Gaudynski is also fabulous and she has two books that are absolutely wonderful. I "practice" on real quilts, not practice blocks. That way I am always trying to do my very best. I use the quilting foot that came with my machine and it works fine. I would like to get an open foot eventually. The only way to be comfortable with it is to practice practice practice.

Like others, I recommend Leah Day. Also practice, practice, practice. But what really helped me was taking a class at a lqs where the teacher was able to give me feedback and lots of tips and more importantly, encouragement and confidence. Have fun.