Jakaby

Has anyone ever done on a whole cloth background king size Hawaiian quilt. I have always been a machine thread play quilter, (paint with fabric dyes and then add detail with thread play.) But a very good friend of mine had ask her mom to make her a king size Hawaiian quilt. Her mother had the blue Hawaiian pattern (all in one big piece) basted to the whole cloth king size white background. Then her mom got Alzheimer. When they were cleaning out her mom's house they found the quilt, and my friend, knowing that I did quilting, ask me to finish it. I didn't know at the time what type of quilt it was, so I told her I would try. I am getting the hang of the needle turn applique, (although the indents really give me fits,) but now I am getting farther into the middle and trying to get my hand around the wad of fabric so my finger is underneath and my thumb nail on top to hold as I turn under the edge of the applique is getting almost impossible. And I am only about half way to the center of the quilt. Does anyone have any tips for me on how to handle such a huge piece? I can only do a little bit before my hand gets too tired from holding so much fabric. I have been trying to roll it tightly but I am getting to the point that that doesn't get the wad of fabric small enough. PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP!!!!!!I'm getting desperate!!!