Boy am I glad to see this thread! When I hand quilt I do it out of the hoop too, and glad to know that that ain't weird.
The hoop just gets in my way, and I guess I don't understand putting the quilt in a hoop taut to just pull it back loose again. I'm slow on the uptake on that. But hand stitching wasn't taught to me. I do pin baste with alot of pins.
I wish now I had asked either one of my grandma's to teach me to quilt before they died. Live and Learn!