You have the right idea, starting with a low-investment project. It takes a while (I think for most people) to get hand quilting stitches looking good, so it isn't a good idea to start with something important.
I have arthritic hands, and I was not able to hand quilt using the traditional rocking stitch; I couldn't do the finger bending and wrist movement involved. Then fortunately, I discovered Liuxin Newman's book, 'Perfect Hand Quilting without Pain.' She also did not have good results with the traditional rocking stitch, and pricking the underneath finger was a problem for her. So she developed her own method, which uses a different sort of thimble, sold under the name Thimblelady, which is open ended and worn down on the finger rather than at the tip. Her method eliminates the need to bend the fingers or move the wrist, so I'm now able to quilt without any stress on the hands. If you have trouble with the traditional stitch, you might want to look at her book (I found it used on Amazon).
I quilt in a 12" hoop, with the hoop propped on the table in front of me, and chairs to each side taking the weight of the quilt. The table keeps the hoop at a good angle for me.