I am a hand quilter. I just prefer the look of hand quilting. I quilt in a hoop, but have a Grace Z44 frame that hasn't been set up in years. I just couldn't master quilting with my thumb. Recently, I've been thinking about giving it another try. I bought a Roxanne thimble for this years ago, but my hands are large and the thimble is huge and clumsy. I recently started researching thimbles and found Ted Storm's and Thimblelady's that looked interesting, but Ted Storm's has to be ordered from Germany or the Netherlands and Thimblelady's from Australia. Yesterday, I found a T. J. Lane thimble at Jinny Beyer's Studio. It is light weight and feels like a part of my hand. It was the same price as the other two and I could try it on. Played with it last night, and I think with practice I can do it. So as soon as I finish the quilt I'm quilting now I'm going to set up my Z44 and give it a try.
About five years ago I took a FMQ class from Harriet Hargrave, but haven't practiced enough to be any good at it. I did this to quickly finish up some of those tops hanging in my sewing room -- they are still hanging there.