Hey Tracy and all the rest who are getting ready to try hand quilting - I decided to go the unorthodox route of NOT using a traditional rocking method. For one thing, like Tracy, I experienced major blood loss and even worse, ruined my fabric (gasp!), and for another, it made my wrist ache outrageously. The method I use is hoopless although if I am handling a big quilt, I do use a board underneath to support the quilt and my left hand. Instead of rocking the needle, I use what I call a running back stitch - the needle goes up, then I take stitch back, then bring the needle up again a little further. I can control the length of my stitches very easily this way, my wrist doesn't hurt and I can pretty much quilt any size piece I need. The only drawback if you want to call it that is that the back side has a continous line rather than individual stitching. If the quilt police don't like that, phooey on them!