Ditto what Prism99 stated. Also definitely don't use the one with the blister. Maybe a little slow but those dots help and you may want to try the other fingers for a while. Their is a tool for hand quilters that is used as a guide for underneath and I believe It's called "AUNT BECKY". You don't get the pricks in the fingers underneath. You can google it.
Originally Posted by
Prism99
Are you pushing your needle with the index finger? Or feeling underneath the quilt with it?
Thimbles do reduce how much you can feel but, if you use them daily, eventually you compensate for the loss of feeling with visual cues and muscle memory. I could probably piece without a thimble, but don't think I could ever hand quilt without a thimble on my needle finger.
You might want to try thimble dots. Here is one type for the needle finger:
http://www.amazon.com/Poke-A-Dots-Th...dp/B00A3VAXVC/
And here is another that provides some padding for the underneath finger:
http://www.amazon.com/Colonial-Needl...dp/B001J5JN7G/
You can also try a piece of adhesive tape, but I found that less than satisfactory. I also tried New Skin:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Skin-Liqui...dp/B0017JOF86/
but this works only on intact fingertips. If you already have a blister or broken skin, you don't want to use it.
Edit: I think the trick to developing calluses (and I'm not sure everyone can develop them) is to limit your daily work to an amount that does *not* make your fingertips terribly sore, but to do work every day.