i have hand quilted full sized quilts to several sizes of wall hangings & pillow tops. when i first started quilting in mid 80's ..thread basted was supposed to be the rule, then came the pins & i tried that. so back to thread basting. i have done needle point and crewel embroidery for many yrs ..so, having several scroll frames i just bought and cut to wanted length appropriately sized dowels, usually 1/2", attached pining strips as you would for sit down frame hand quilting. i now use my scroll frames for all small hand quilted items. start in middle, scroll up or down as wanted to change position. no shifting of quilt sandwich. and i still thread baste everything, even for fmq. except now w minkie type backing or flannel, i spray baste. no stretching. i do fmq on my domestic machine.
plus ...as for ”if the hands allow” ..i've been arthritic since teens. so when i hand quilt i try to have a small project to "warm" up on. loosen the fingers and hands to better control stitch size etc. works well ..tho one small quilt took me 13 yrs to finish, it helped me finish several wall quilts
