I also started quilting in the early 80's. I have always hand quilted. I have a Grace EZ3 floor frame that I use to quilt my larger quilts and use a lap hoop for quilting my smaller quilts. I do not use a thimble, just can't get use to them. Right now, I hand quilt about 98% of my quilts. I took a Quilting with your walking foot class from Craftsy and some of my smaller quilts will be done by machine.