I am a cozy quilter. When I was learning the teacher said to try and be consistant but that if someone was riding by on horseback and couldn't see any problems if was fine. I do find that as I quilt my stitches get smaller and more consistant. A friend of mine that wins prizes for her quilts, has stitches that look like they were done on a machine. I figure if I am going to all that work, the stitches are going to be seen. A lot of my friends are now machine quilting but I find that hand quilting is very relaxing and I enjoy it greatly.