I agree with every thing you wrote. I have had my machine for 6 years. You have to practice, practice, practice. I didn't get to take my class with the dealer till I had my machine for 2 or 3 years cause the dealer was 600 miles away.
I would load a long length of muslin on the machine, with batting, then a length of fabric. I would practice mostly on pantos, until I quilted the piece of fabric, then I would add another. I would keep quilting till I ran out of the piece of muslin. Then I would cut the length into pieces the size of lap quilts. Then I would bind them and give them to a nursing home. But after all this time I am still having a hard time believing that I do good work. I am just now beginning to do quilts for other people. My friends insisted that I was good enough to quilt for other people. So I decided to give it a go. I have watched lots of videos on youtube and they have really helped. There is a video on Craftsy that I think is free, that is really good. The lady stapled her quilt packs to the leaders. I have been doing that and really like the method. It is much better than pinning, IMO. But you just have to keep trying. I felt the same way about quilting on one of my own quilts. But I finally bit the bullet and did it. It becomes easier. I will never be as good as Charisma, who is on this board. She is exceptional. But the key is to keep trying.