First and foremost is to have a correct ergonomic setup. Have your table/machine and chair at the correct height for you. I think the quilters gloves are a good suggestion, and not too expensive to try. I have the thing that looks like a horseshoe to push the quilt around and it doesn't work too well (there's no marking on it so I don't know the brand). I have the gloves somewhere but haven't tried them yet. I can't think of a way to get around the bumps in the fabriic for QAYG, other than having bigger blocks so you don't have as many.