I've only hand quilted a 40" X 60" baby quilt. My two other attempts at hand quilting larger quilts languished in the UFO pile for far too long. I found that quilting with a hoop feels awkward to me. Once I found Sharon Schamber's you tube video on hoopless hand quilting, I found that I liked it much better. You have to spend more time with secure basting, but I found that I was much more comfortable without a hoop. I practiced a little on a queen-sized quilt before machine quilting to see if I would like hoopless hand quilting my next large quilt, and I think that as long as you find a way to support the weight of the quilt, it works. The top of my bed is 36" off the floor, so I pulled my quilting chair next to my bed to quilt. I like the idea posted above for working between two tables, too.
I have tried quilting with different kinds of thimbles on different fingers and different needles to find the method that allows me to quilt the longest and have consistent stitching. Still haven't settled on the best method for me, but it may be good to switch methods to avoid hand pain.