I understand completely about not being able to freehand what is in my mind. My allover flowers, leaves, hearts, and dragonflies aren't too bad. I've even done feathers and free-hand fans -- although I don't want anyone looking too close. Two summers ago I attempted to do continuous curves -- that curve from the intersection of the pieces out to 1/4" and then back to the next intersection -- and knew I had to rip it all out. Even my husband agreed and he is less critical than I am of my quilting. At that point, I knew that pulling out the templates even though I had never used them was going to be better -- and it was. But boy does it slow me down.
I don't own a long arm, but rent time in one of two different locations. One of the shops I think offers classes in the use of templates, although I have only taken the orientation class so I could rent the machine. I've bought templates at quilt shows -- Machine Quilters Showcase primarily, but I've seen them at other big shows -- typically anywhere where you can buy a long arm.
As for on-line resources, the two that come to mind first are Quilters Rule at
http://quiltersrule.com/ and The Gadget Girls at
http://www.thegadgetgirls.com/
As for how to use them, my "education" was watching the demonstrations at the shows, then coming home and drawing on paper with them. I've never looked for any videos, but I'm sure there are DVDs available and possibly even videos on YouTube.... I guess now I need to go look.
Good luck.