I am not sure what I should use this is my first attempt to hand quilt I would like it to last as I put a lot of hand work into the quilt itself

I like Roxanne betweens size 10 & 11. For your first time, I'd start with 10.

On the left are hand quilting needles, thread, thimble and you will probably want a quilting hoop of some kind.
On the right is Perle cotton and embroidery needles or whatever size eye you can get your thread through for big stitch. You will probable want to hoop your quilt sandwich to stitch.[ATTACH=CONFIG]602393[/ATTACH]

For big stitch quilting with perle or #10 crochet cotton I like to use either Dritz #7 darning needles or long Tulip sashiko needles. They have larger eyes, but they're long, thin, and sharp, and go through the layers easily.

I use long thin needles for sewing on bindings too, because short needles make my hands hurt.

You will definitely need different needles depending on whether you use perle cotton or quilting thread. Here is a website that gives a recommendation for a needle to use with #8 perle cotton:
https://sunny-day-supply.myshopify.c...le-cotton-tips

One thing I don't see mentioned is batting. The batting you choose can make quilting easier or harder to get the needle through. I do not recommend Warm and Natural batting for hand quilting because its layer of scrim creates a lot of drag on the needle. Hobbs 80/20 is much easier to quilt through and has some loft. If you want flat, not loft, then Quilter's Dream cotton is a good choice. Both are much easier to hand needle than W&N.

Edit: These are the needles recommended for #8 perle cotton in the website above:
https://sunny-day-supply.myshopify.c...tility-needles

I haven't checked, but they may be available at JoAnn Fabrics, or possibly even at Walmart.

Edit 2: You can choose either regular hand quilting or big stitch quilting. It is a design decision. However, big stitch quilting will go much faster.

i've been hand quilting for many many years. i still practice with less important project for an hour or whatever to "loosen" fingers. over the years the arthritis in my hands have become very painful, so i practice a while so that my stitches are right for my special project --usually a gift :)

needles ..i use shorts size 11 or 12

batt ..i use thin whatever i have money for. for miniatures sally collins has recomended wool because the quilting pattern shows up so well & it needles so nicely. i haven't tried it yet ..money again :(

Prism99 is right on the money. I big stitch almost all of my projects and love the look and the speed of it.

I personally use Perle cotton in size 8 or 12 or 12 wt thread. I like my needles long, thin and very sharp and Thimblelady XL's mentioned above are great for all but the heavier threads.

As Prism99 mentioned, you don't want to use Warm and Natural as it is very difficult to hand quilt through. Not impossible, but your hands won't like you when you are done. Hobbs, Quilters Dream or Pellon 90/10 are much easier. I am going to try wool on my queen size for my bed as I hear it is a dream to quilt through, just pricier. I won't use poly for a number of reasons even though it is easy to hand quilt as well.

I would recommend watching Jo Glover's series on big stitch quilting on YouTube. She is very informative and does beautiful work.

Please post pics of your progress!

I will check out Jo Glover. Never knew there was so many things to consider didn't know there was big stitch and short stitch which does each of you prefer. I will post a pic soon of the top

Most vintage quilts were hand quilted with quilting thread. I believe big stitch is a more modern approach. Both are beautiful. When you post a pic of your quilt top, you may get more specific recommendations from people here.

I have done both 'regular' and 'big stitch' hand quilting. The big stitch did go very quickly but after so many years of regular hand quilting it was really difficult for me to get 'big' stitches, lol. But with the heavier weight (pearle cotton) thread it was still more defined.

I think I really prefer regular hand quilting though. Perhaps just because that is what I've always done.

For regular hand quilting I use Roxanne #11 or #12 quilting betweens - usually #11. I use that brand threader as well particularly with the #12 needles...it can be difficult to get the thread through those eyes without the threader. Not so much with the #11s. And regular threaders wires seem to be too thick to go through the Roxanne #12 eyes.