I just hand basted a king size batik quilt.....hands are so sore I can't hold a pencil....I will admit I used a larger needle as I was basting but to help the needle go through the batik I had a bar of soap near by. Rubbing the needle on the bar helps it slide much easier. By the way it took two days to baste. My stitches were approx 1/2 inch as I wanted to do special quilting on it....make a long story short....I machine tied the whole thing! Not happy but I don't mind the look and it is DONE! So would I do it again? Never say never but right now the answer is a resounding NO!