Thank you all SOOOOO much for the tips. I think I will try both the H. Tulip & the Roxanne needles as I have heard such good things about the both (and I already have some JJ quilting needles that I have used in the past to fall back on, but I'm sure there are better choices for quilting). I currently push with the pad of my finger (or sometimes the side of my finger) for applique, hand sewing & the little bit of quilting I've done, so maybe I will try the ThimbleLady thimbles; they do seem like they would help with my tendonitis since they immobilize the knuckle joint.
I also have those silicon thimbles & like them okay. Thanks for the tip, NJ, about needing to move around. I will have to think on that. I have had lot of surgeries on my neck & back so trying to hold a hoop is nearly impossible for me. I have a cheapy HL quilting hoop & end up pulling my knees up & holding it with my knees at times because I don't have the strength to hold it up with one hand -- same thing with hand embroidery which I used to do a LOT of. I've thought about lap quilting, but I can't tilt my head down so it's hard to see. Perhaps I could get a magnifier & then I could try lap quilting, but I've been thinking about the TL hoop & I think it would still work okay if I put soft weights & had it out in front of me so I could work on my knees or crosslegged. I definitely agree that it's important to change positions so as not to get too stiff ... although, once I got my ergonomic set-up with my machine, I seem to do okay working in 20 minute increments there with 5-10 minute breaks in between. I really hope I can make this work. Some day if I get lucky enough have a husband & adopt children, I would like to hand quilt a special quilt for my husband & each of the kids. There just really is nothing more special than a hand quilted heirloom.
Thank you again to everyone for the wealth of information! I can't wait to get started on this next month. I'm sure I'll have more questions then, but I've definitely got enough to let "Santa" know what I'd like for Christmas.