minibarn

Hi
I am currently hand quilting a bear paw quilt and it is a slow go. My biggest problem is seam allowances. It is my fault because of the way I chose to quilt it, but I thought I would ask if anyone has advise to help me through those tough areas. I wish I could post a picture, but here is a verbal description of my quilt pattern...from the center of the bear paw block I am quiltung diagonal lines radiating out. It makes an X in the very center of the block. Hope that helps to visualize the block and quilting. Anyway, what I find is at each seam allowance I have to poke and stab or else I end up w/a big stitch because I can't seem to make a small one through all the bulk. This is making my quilting a slower process, which is really bad because I am basically a novice hand quilter anyway. So, any ideas? I have read "That Perfect Stitch" and while I understand how she says to deal w/seam allowances I can't put it into practice.

Thanks!