In my experience sewing is like any other trade, you must use the correct tools for the job, a smaller needle, (a new sharp one) plus a thimble when you have to, will make any hand sewing job easier, I hand stitch my bindings on the back no trouble and rarely use a thimble, I assume we are talking about regular cotton fabric for the quilt top here. In my work we used to sell needles of all kinds, believe me there are hundreds of different kinds all for different uses, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of the more popular ones used for hand sewing and quilting.
It will make your sewing tasks a lot easier and less painful!
Gal