I bought a beautiful Grace Z44 floor frame 10+ years ago. Found, as you did, that even with Roxanne's thimble for my thumb I couldn't quilt away from myself and didn't have the patience to continue trying. So, I stored my frame. After giving it a lot of thought and after some extreme challenges with a quilting project in my hoop, I decided to give it another try. So, I bought a T. J. Lane thimble for my thumb -- it's much lighter than Roxanne's-- and a couple weeks ago hubby put the frame up again for me. It's amazing, I can do it. It isn't close to perfect yet, but the feel is there and I know with practice I can do it. One of the things I found is that while I use Aunt Becky's finger underneath my quilt when using a hoop, I can't use Aunt Becky's on the frame -- my finger works best. My advice to you is to make sure you have a good thimble for your thumb -- one that will hold the needle for you and one you can keep it on your thumb while you pull the needle through. Diedre McElroy of That Perfect Stitch has a DVD out that shows you how to quilt with your thumb. It's worth the investment. Keep trying. It really is awkward at first. However, if you decide you just can't do it or don't want to do it then by all finish it in a hoop. Do whatever you are comfortable with. Quilting should be fun not work.