If you can do nice hand quilting without a hoop, there's really no big advantage to using a frame or hoop. I have tried quilting without a hoop, but I found the bunching to be hard on my hands, and my stitches were not even (especially underneath). I like using a lap hoop (mine swivels on a ball and is very easy to adjust to any angle and direction. By hooping very loosely as I described, it's a little similar to quilting without a hoop in that it's still easy to manipulate the fabric layers onto the needle.