Don't give up. I quilt my own tops and have done simple allover meander and loop da loops, stitch in the ditch. I was lucky enough to take a Harriet Hargrave class this summer and I think I am getting better and am trying more things. I have lots of baby quilts and table runners to practice on. Her book "Heirloom Machine Quilting" is very good. It has great directions for quilting on a regular home machine.
What is wrong with simple SID and cross hatching. It is amazing how nice these can look on a lot of quilts.