Cotton tends to be more difficult to hand quilt. The two thinner Quilter's Dream cotton battings (needlepunched for stability, but not through scrim) are said to be pretty good for hand quilting. Avoid anything with scrim, such as Warm and Natural; the scrim adds an extra layer that you have to push your needle through on top of the stickiness of the cotton.
Especially for someone starting out after 25 years, I would consider using Hobbs 80/20 batting. It is 80% cotton but ***much*** easier to hand quilt than most 100% cotton battings. If you go to 100% polyester, I would test stitch before committing. I don't like the feel of the cleaper polyesters. Hobbs PolyDown has a very nice feel and drape, but it is so puffy I think it would be more difficult to hand quilt than Hobbs 80/20. Hobbs 80/20 has a nice degree of loft (much more loft than 100% cottons) but not so much as to make hand quilting difficult.