I took a beginners hand quilting class even though I had been hand quilting for years. And one of the things she did was provide each student with a quilt sandwich of 15 in square - some of it had a design lines and most of it did not. She told us to just sew without the lines so she could view what level she was teaching where to focus - but she also said that almost everyone needs a warm up period, so before you quilt your sandwich - take a few minutes to warm up on this scrap sandwich. That was 15 years ago but I still do it because I don't hand quilt that often and a bit of a warm up helps get the rhythm. Also there is a great book out there for hand quilting. "That Perfect Stitch" by D. MacEleroy. It is well worth the money.