I have never been able to get used to a thimble. I just dab a little superglue on the callouses and go on.

I do exactly as Peckish for the same reason. I have many thimbles that I have tried and these are the ones that work best for my style of hand quilting. Like any leather product they will stretch but I use a piece of painters tape around my finger to help the fit.

For years I did not use a thimble when doing any hand work. Then I started hand quilting. Oh my! Initially is picked up every cheap thimble I could find including the stick on pads. None of them worked for me. I then drooled over some Roxanne thimbles. Well, they were just way more than I wanted to pay. Discovered Thimblelady thimbles. Tried the plastic one first to see how I would manage with pushing with the pad of my finger vs the top that most metal thimbles are designed to do. Eureka! Ordered the stainless steel one and have never looked back.

My hand/fingers do not tire or get sore nearly as quickly - if at all. I'm not particularly fond of her needles but do love the thimbles. The price for the s/s is not outrageous either. And after wearing out one of the stainless thimbles, I'd be hesitant to buy and sterling silver for fear that the metal would be too soft and I'd wear that out as well.

I use the thimblelady thimble for hand quilting, and a regular thimble for hand piecing (no thimble for applique). My fingertips are broad and square, so fit is a problem. I'm going to try that Clover leather thimble!

I use a regular steel thimble on my middle finger, though sometimes I will switch to a smaller one and put that on my ring finger--- depends on which feels right when I'm working. I only hand sew a few things-- labels to quilt back, for show quilts I hand sew the binding to the back, some embroidery stitches get sewn to the top before quilting, some embroidery stitches get sew to the top after quilting. If it's something that will be sewn to a quilt that's already sandwiched, then the thimble goes on my finger.

I have a bunch of thimbles, all came in batches of misc. sewing supplies that I got off eBay. I use whichever one fits whichever finger I want it on.

Rob

I use a thimble for any hand sewing or quilting I do on my right hand. When hand quilting, I don't use anything on the hand that goes under the sandwich. I find I can feel better where the needle is and where I want it to go with just a bare finger. However, the skin on the tip does toughten up a little, but after the quilt is finished it gets soft again.

I find that thimbles bother me when hand-sewing. I do much better without one.

I have small hands, small fingers, and I use the thimble that looks like a ring. I use it on my pointer finger on my right hand. My thumb and pointer finger holds the needle and if it needs a push, it is right there, but only down the finger a little bit. I have used mine for years with all kinds of sewing, drapes, garments and now quilts. They are still on the market and cheap if you would like to try one.

I don't put anything on my under finger(s) either. When one gets sore, I just use another to feel the needle underneath. I use my thimble on my middle finger when quilting or sewing and use a rubber finger tip on my index finger to help pull the needle through.

I finally hit upon the small leather dot that sticks to my finger after trying a few different traditional thimbles. I only need that when I'm hand sewing the binding. I was really getting a sore finger while doing that. It works perfectly for me. I do a lot of hand embroidery but don't need a thimble, no sore spots.