Learning to Hand Quilt

After having 2 herniated disks in May, being in pain for months, undergoing physical therapy and epidural steroid injections, I'm finally back to quilting.  Sitting at the machine for long hours, though, is not even possible!  I've tried all sorts of back pillows, raising the sewing table, lowering it, buying a drafting stool, etc.  I want to be able to quilt my quilts as well as piece the tops, and I'm determined to find a way to do this! 

After watching How to Hand Quilt: A Free Video Tip on Craftsy.com 5 times (yes 5 so far), I'm finally attempting to hand quilt around circles on a quilt made for my dear granddaughter.  I've marked this quilt, sprayed the marks away, stressed over it, taken machine quilting lessons (I'm horrible at it!), and finally decided to hand quilt around the circles first and then decide what to do with the rest of the quilt. In the video, quilter/designer/instructor Sarah Fielke shows how to use DMC thread with an embroidery needle and the clover open-sided thimble.  I love this method! 

Here are my sample shots: 

It's still a WIP (work in progress), and I need to try to quilt designs inside the larger circles plus will have to quilt something on the background fabric to anchor the batting.  But for now I'm happy the hand quilting around the circles is looking so good thanks to the easy instructions given by Sarah Fielke.  

And here's the link to Sarah's instructional video: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/01/how-to-hand-quilt/