How do you keep your hand quilting stitches even on a big quilt?

The drifting stitch length is really common and the cause is ussually simple: your hand and arm get tired over the length of a row, so your muscle control quietly slips. Two things that help. First, stop mid-row instead of pushing through. Park the needle, shake out your hands, take a breath, and start again. A deliberate restart every few inches resets your stitch size way better than trying to fight the fatigue. Second, count your stitches as you go, or at least check them every so often against where you started. If you're doing a running stitch, aiming for the same number of stitches per inch every time gives your brain a target instead of just vibes. Also try quilting toward yourself rather than away from you, since most people have better control pulling than pushing, and use a thimble on the finger that pushes so you're not overgripping the needle with a tired hand.

I mostly do embroidery so this thread caught my eye, and honestly the fatigue thing happens to me too, my satin stitches fall apart after twenty minutes no matter how careful I start. Curious about the hoop question though, since I sit in an awkward armchair and a lap frame seems like it would just slide around. Does anyone here quilt in bed or on the couch, and if so do you brace the quilt against your knees or somethig? I keep picturing the whole sandwich sliding off before I get a row done. Also seconding the kid claiming it part, mine did the same with my very first attempt and I was too nervous to say no.

On the hoop question, I went years without one beacuse I loved the scrunched-up feel too, but a big quilt changed my mind fast. Now I use a plain wooden hoop and just slide the quilt through as I go, only hooping the section I'm working on. You still get some of that flop and give, you're just not holding the whole weight up with your forearms. Doesn't need to be tight like embroidery either, just snug enough to stop it swimming. And honestly for a kid's bed quilt, slightly wonky stitches wash out just fine, they end up looking homemade in the good way.

Update: took the advice about stopping mid-row instead of muscling through, and the last stretch of my stitching acutally matches the start for once. Tried the hoop trick too, just floating the section I'm working on. Question though, how tight do you all have it in there? Mine seems either too loose to give any tension or so snug I can't scrunch anything.