Some good hints here! Use Roxanne needles, about size 10. Practice for a few minutes every time before you start quilting on your quilt. Keep a looser tension in your hoop;, don't try to bounce a quarter on it. I use a thimble made by Tommie Lane which I love. Understand that when most of us start quilting by hand, our stitches are larger. The size of your stitch doesn't matter so much as the consistency of the stitches. Ami Sims did a book on hand quilting some years ago and it is still a good resource. Good luck. Hang in there.