I must admit that I do not do a lot of hand quilting because of my wrists, however, when I quilted my daughter's full size quilt, I used a 14" hoop, but I quilted it at my old, very large kitchen table. The quilt was supported, taking some of the strain off my arms, and although I was leaning forward slightly, I found it to be as comfortable as sewing. Plus my large table held the bulk of the quilt, and Mischief (our kitty at the time) would lie on the quilt to watch me and occasionally try to catch the needle, although he only did that a couple of times. I know some of you might be aghast at letting a cat lie on the quilt, however, when my daughter used the quilt her cat slept on her bed, and no one in the family was allergic then.