I use W&N for hand quilting all the time. I guess since it's what I started with I didn't know it wasn't supposed to be difficult to needle. I do fairly small stitches with either a #11 or #12 Roxanne needle, use Thimblelady metal (although I have used the plastic one as well) thimble and push with the pad of my finger. Every one once in a while it will be tough to pull the needle out of the work but I have needle nosed pliers for that purpose. I'm working on a quilt now that a friend decided she didn't want to finish. She always uses Quilter's Dream cotton batting and honestly I don't notice much difference in the needling (is that a word) of either batting.