I can't do hand work anymore - just barely can do the handwork for bindings (but somebody on here told me to sew the binding on the back side, bring around and stitch on machine with fancy stitch instead of sew on the front, take to back and hand stitch)
anyway, I use GOOD rotary cutters, sew everything on the machine, pin 'baste' and stipple or meander on the machine.... the one most important hint I can give you about stippling is wear some rubberized garden gloves (wallyworld for less than three dollars) - it is AMAZING how much that helps with holding and moving the quilt - it's like night and day...
especially with the machine quilting I take lots of breaks but I eventually get it done...
believe me, we all get 'freaked' by one diagnosis or another :roll:
I got freaked when I got a 'letter' from our insurance company all about 'how to deal with a chronic disease'.... geez....