I use garden gloves with the "plasticky" feeling on the fingers and palms. Actually bought 6 pairs of gloves from Costco for $7-$8, which I thought was a great value. I started FMQ'ing without gloves but found my fingers were terribly sore afterwards because I was gripping and pulling on the quilt top so hard. So now I won't quilt without gloves on. They are worth every penny.
Also saw a tip which I have yet to try (soon thought!). On my machine, I can remove the foot pedal and has an auto run function. The thought is that you have one less thing to do if your speed is automatically controlled. I will try anything once!