Not all ticking is created equal. I have seen some here that is as dense and heavy as denim (blue jean material)! Especially if it is the old fasioned kind used for making mattresses. I would not attempt to hand quilt through any ticking that heavy and dense. I have also seen ticking like CKCowl described, very loosly woven, like a homespun that would be very easy to handquilt.
You mention that what you have seen has a lot of "dressing" on it which leads me to believe you have come across the heavy denim weight of ticking. I would avoid it if you are hand quilting. Would be fine for machine quilting.
You may be better off going back to your flannelette but you may wish to prewash it before using it as it shrinks quite a bit. And with big stitch primitive quilting as you describe the shrinkage, especially as your top is made from clothing that has definitely been preshrunk, may cause undesireable distortion in your finished quilt. Just something to consider.