From one relatively newbie to another. I have hand-quilted in about every way you can hand-quilt. I have lap quilted squares individually (in the car on the way to vacations) and then sewn them together. I am currently hand- quilting in sections a quilt. I did start in the middle of each individual square and now am now hand-quilting all the way around the outside edge after I machine sewed them together. It is better to move out from the middle but I can see how doing the middle and then moving out sideways in the middle would work nicely.