I had the same problem with stippling. I tried and tried. I read books and looked at others work and still, mine was horrible. I read a blog called Crazy Mom Quilts. She stipples like a mad woman. And...it's beautiful. I talked to her about it via email, and she did a video tutorial and put it in her sidebar on her blog. I watched it every day, several times, and followed her instructions, and low and behold....it worked! I recently stippled a king size quilt! Hope that helps you. Don't give it!