I hand quilted the first quilt I ever made in the early 90's. I wish I had known then that the quilt was supposed to be loose in the hoop! I was told to put it in like I was going to embroider it, so I did ... the entire queen quilt, section by section. It's on the bed in the guest room. I look at the center and see my big sloppy stitches where I started, then I look at the tiny even stitches around the border and how much better my stitching got ... although it did take me several years to finish it. It's one of my favorite quilts and my DGS loves to sleep on it. :-)