I have never had a regulator and have been told my quilts are beautiful. All it takes is practice. Have you tryed just doing some smaller projects like table covers to get the feel of it. Just give yourself more time and hang in there.

Obviously you DO have a stitch regulator: YOU ;)
Great FMQ
Gives me hope.

How did people do quilting in the past before there was the possibility of dropping feed dogs? Did they just quilt by hand?
I have a special plate that covers the feed dogs on my vintage machines (FW, WHITE, and 1914 Red Eye). You place it over the feed dogs and put a screw through the hole in it into one of the holes on the "floor" of the machine. I guess that's what those holes were made for - to use for certain attachments like this.
I bought it online and don't remember what it is called, but it can be found I am sure by googling something like "feed dog cover plate".
I am not very good at FMQ YET because I need to practice a lot more but I am very happy with the situation.
Also I should say that my WHITE machine, which is from 1945 or 47 (thereabouts) has a dial so that I can lower the feed dogs on that. However, I am so in love with my Red Eye that I prefer to sew on her.
I sure would like to hear your opinions of all this.

I do FMQ all the time. The first time I tried was a nightmare but once I conquered it I love it. I do drop my feed dogs and I do not have a regulator. I do adjust my tension and my stitch lenth.

i have a stitch regulator... it's called "my right foot"

In the last 3 years I have pieced and quilted 5 quilts on the machine. I don't use a regulator, I just set my machine to the stitch that work on that quilt and away I go.

I was at the LQS taking a beginners lesson that came with my machine and she showed us a round red ring that felt rubbery on the outside but had some weight to it ..... you placed this over the part you wanted to quilt and it clung to the top and helped move it and also kept your fingers away from the needle. Has anyone heard of this? I think it was new.

LOVE IT!

Yes it is possible to master FMQ without a stitch regulator. It takes practice. When I started my stitches were all over the map. But I kept practicing and I am finally getting it down. It takes coordination between the speed you are stitching and how fast you are moving your quilt. I compare it to learning to drive a stick shift. Once you get the coordination down you start thinking this isn't so hard and then it become fun. Keep trying. You will get it.

Ah what did women do before all these new gadgets and didn't want to do it buy hand........................some gadgets are nice but but if we take our time we can do almost anything on a good old fashion machine.