I posted to the pics section a couple days ago asking for help and encouragement with my hand quilting, and everyone really responded!
I feel much better about what I had done at that point, and also, I got some great tips, and I feel even better about (the little) I've done since.
One thing - I changed needles, to a smaller one, and that really helped my stitches be both a little smaller, and more even. I had picked basically the biggest needle in the package (Dritz betweens - they're not numbered that I can see) to use since it was a size that more closely resembled the needles I'm used to using. Changing to a smaller needle is a little harder to handle, but the results look better to me.
So thank you everyone! I really love this board.