I recently dug out a quilt top made 20 years ago and never quilted because I was waiting until I could do "better" quilting. What I have discovered is that my quilting is not going to get better. Over the last 20 years I have developed some arthritis in my fingers and my vision is not so hot any more, so the truth is this, finished is better than sitting in a box for the family to try to figure out what to do with it. So I am hand quilting it. Some of my quilting is pretty good and some will not win any prizes, but that's okay. At least I am making progress in getting it finished so someone can enjoy it. I have several more that I will hand quilt also. Years ago I wanted a quilting frame so I took an old card table with a metal frame and tore the old top off and wound the top rails with a layer of batting and then covered it with muslin. It made a really nice quilting frame, except that now I have back problems and can't use it, however the cat thought it was a kitty hammock and enjoyed whatever quilt was on it immensely! Just do the best you can do and carry on. I like a #12 needle even though they are difficult to thread. I do use painters tape or quarter inch masking tape for straight line guides and that works well. Neither of those tapes leave any residue on your fabrics. I can only get the quarter inch masking tape at the auto paint store in our area as our department stores don't carry it. I have used several brands of quilting thread and all worked okay. I do like Quilt Heaven to coat the thread and keep it from tangling and getting knots. Now I sit in my favorite chair without a frame and quilt away. I'm going to try gluing a quilt together with 505 to see if that is okay for hand quilting or if it is sticky enough to cause problems with pulling the thread through it all the time.