I had a lady friend give me a GFGarden. I hand quilted 3,000-3,500 hex's. The finished size was 1 1/2". I marked a 1/4" around each hex. And my needle I used was a quilting between size 11. My ? is, what kind(type) batting are you useing.I dont think changeing the batting will make a difference. My batting I use is Quilters Dream Poly/thinnest loft. I buy it from paducah. I've used this batting for all of my quilts-machine quilting, and hand quilting.