I've tried lots of different needles for hand-quilting. I thought Roxanne were the best until I got Piecemakers. I use the size 12 unless I have thicker batting in the quilt, then I use the 9. When I use the longer needles (sz 9) they do bend easier than the 12s but the eye is larger. Maybe I just got a bad batch of Roxanne's because the eye seems to ravel my thread and the barrel of the needle seems too thick to hold more than about 5 stitches at a time. John James bends too easy for me. Maybe I'm just too aggressive. I don't know