I'm working on my first quilted piece that's not being hand-quilted. I did stitch in the ditch on the blocks.

Now I'm using a template pattern on the sashes and am free motion quilting them. It has been good practice having to follow lines of the design. I think it helps with my control (or lack of control). LOL. It's not perfect by any means, but I'm trying my best not to rip out too many stitches. I've practiced stippling, but am not comfortable with that yet, but I think loop de loops seem much easier. You might try those.