Ladies, it is so rewarding once you get the hang of it. Practice on a scrap sandwich first. A few tips that helped me in the beginning: use a hoop, and keep the quilt fairly loose in it. You will have to use your left hand (if your right handed) under the quilt under the area you are stitching so you can feel the needle go thru the layers and come back up. Use a thimble of some sort (I started out using electrical tape on my underneath finger!). It is more important to get your stitches more uniform than trying to get them tiny. I saw a friend's first hand-quilting where she only got 4 stitches to the inch, but it looked really good because they were all uniform in size, and she used a thread that showed well as part of the design. Poping the knot in the batting is important because you don't want the knot to show! At the end of each length of thread (don't use more than 18" or so each time), a small knot that also needs to be burried. Use a proper "hand" quilting thread that is coated and fairly firm. Just keep practicing-it is really worth it!