You have just found someone else with the same results
:thumbup:

There are quite a few of us on the board that do not like to use a thimble when quilting. Borntohandquilt does amazing quilting and she does not use a thimble and only takes one stitch at a time.

No thimble here. I need to feel the needle.

I love hand quilting, even though I'm not very good at it. I've tried quilting with a hoop and without a hoop. I can make smaller stitches without the hoop.

All in all, I find hand quilting relaxing, and I can quilt in the family room while my hubby is watching TV. We can be together but still do our own thing.

I am another hand quilter that likes thin batting and no thimble. I also have better results only doing one stitch at a time.

Practice, practice, practice :). You'll find the combination that suits you and you'll be off!

Holly,
take your time and find your own very personal way of hand quilting! There are so many different methods like hand quilters and something that is bad for you can be helpful for somebody else. Try different mtehods, notions and techniques and you will find what is good for you.
Happy quilting!

As the others have said, time is your friend. It's just a matter of finding the right technique for you and you will get better. Loose in the hoop makes a big difference as well as you can move the fabric easier. I use Roxanne #11 or #12's.

This is me too!! I love that I can sit with everyone and be a part of the conversations. I am busily piecing a quilt simply to have one to hand quilt!! I love to have it to do when I am tired of sitting at the sewing machine.

I have only done one piece by handquilting, and I am feel that uniform is more important than size. I have no desire to enter them into shows, and I am SO glad there are no quilt police. :) Just do what makes you happy! Happy quilting!

I started hand quilting panels because I wasn't interested in piecing. After a while I found myself looking at pieced quilts more & more.Soon i decided that I wanted to piece also, yet my first love is still hand piecing! I started just one stitch at a time & used fleece for batting. Eventually I discovered thimbles & wool batting. I use a 12" hoop. I would like to use a larger hoop but my hands are too small. I quilt toward myself & try to make even stitches.
As you can see I learned as I went one stitch at a time! :-)

Thanks so much for all of your advice and encouragement. I got.some quilting needles. I was just using a regular long needle. I may have to try a different batting. I am using the roll out kind in a bag from WalMart. It seems like I get my needle stuck in the batting alot. Thanks again for all your help.

I'm finding that some fabric is harder to quilted then other. I have been hand quilting for yearsssssss and this the first quilt that I'm finding HARD to quilt. So I'm saying don't gave up the next may be easyer.