i confess that i never use a hoop - i did an entire queen sized quilt without a hoop. i smoothed it over my lap, tucking it under my legs to hold it smooth. the main thing is it has to be well basted and no matter how you do it, you want the layers flat and smooth.
the point above about the batting is really important. if you have a thick batting, you almost can't get it rocking. the thinnest battings are best for hand-quilting. i learned that one the hard way!!! if you have a thick batting the up and down stab method is about as good as it gets.
the biggest thing is to have fun. don't concentrate on making an heirloom - just enjoy the process.
my queen-sized quilt (which has been on our bed for several years now) took 15 years to get finished, but my mom (now gone), my sister, sister-in-law and cousin all quilted on it. that makes it beyond special to me. ironically, the quilting isn't consistent - in some places the diagonal quilt lines cross from the outer border over the inner border and in some places the lines end at the outer border edge. i meant it to skip over the inner border. but . . . i decided it was more important to me to have stitching from the special women in my life on it than to have it be perfect. no one but me knows it has inconsistencies.
anyway, i just mean to encourage you to enjoy the process and don't stress about perfection.