Suze, your quilt is stunning! Beautiful design!
I've been using Quilter's Dream Cotton batting....the lightest one in the line. Really nice for hand quilting.
Hand quilting is much easier to remove than machine stitching. Personally, I would prefer to do that and start over with a batting that makes the quilting process a joy rather than frustration and pain.
You might do a search on QB for types of batting people prefer for hand quilting.
Good luck and hope you'll post a photo of your quilt when it's finished.