My hand quilting has held up really well , have a quilt on my bed for the last 4 years and it has had repeated washings and dryings and cats laying on it and the quilting is holding up. For my daughters quilts when they were younger I used a heavier cotton thread - now I don't remember the name of it but Coats and Clarks makes it and it comes in a ball , usually in white, cream and black. Used the heavier thread and a larger needle and took bigger stitches and their's still look great after 10 years.