When hand quilting in a hoop, keep the quilt loose, not taut like you would with embroidery. Also, when I first started hand quilting, (totally self taught through books and videos) I stitched one stitch at a time, always checking to see that my stitches weren't crooked on the back. It took me a while to learn how to quilt using the rocking motion; however, when I took a class held by my quilt guild, the instructor said the most important thing was not how tiny you make the stitches, but making them the same size, regardless of the stitch length.