Morning Steve,
I'm in the middle of a queen size that I'm hand quilting for my niece so I know your pain. What I do, right, wrong, or indifferent is to put the neede through to the back, the push it back through to the front without trying to put multiple stitches on the needle. Sometimes I do a quick backstitch, turn the thing over and make sure it's not ugly on the back side and then get on with the row.
One stitch at a time is time consuming but I feel like my hard work of piecing and then quilting deserve the time. How 'bout you?
Sharon