I’ve seen some folks work block by block, but I don’t think it works well for me, or what feels natural to me while I ‘squiggle quilt’. In each of the examples in the first pic below, I started in the lower right, and wandered up, then over and back down, block by block. I think this leaves gaps in the stitching. Gaps bother me. LOL.
This pic is what I tend to actually do. I start in the lower right, working 2 blocks wide, wandering all around both blocks, dipping into the ones beside the two I’m focusing on, then wander up to the next block, making sure to keep dipping into adjoining areas, and leaving some gaps that I’ll fill in on my way back down. So I go up from the bottom, towards the top, then move over about 2 blocks, and start meandering my way back down, filling in any empty spaces I left on my way up. When I get to the bottom again, I move over and start heading back up.
I really only will do this free motion quilting if it’s a lap size quilt. I won’t bother with something like a queen or king. It’s just too much fabric. If possible, I like if I can imagine the quilt as quadrants if it’s square, or sixths if it’s rectangular, and work up one half, then down the other half.
Also, my life was changed forever when I bought my first pair of grippy quilting gloves. I had to hunt for extra small ones for my tiny hands, because I didn’t want them to be loose. But the grippy fingertips are amazing, and they take SO MUCH strain off my hands. I used to have to really grasp the quilt sandwich and fist my fingers to drag the quilt around. After a few hours, my hands would be aching. But with the quilting gloves, that strain is basically gone. I can go for hours, and I might be tired of sitting at the machine, but my hands don’t hurt at all.
And yes, it does take hours and hours to squiggle quilt. I always feel like I’m nearly done once I have the sandwich pinned together, and like I’ll be able to quilt the whole thing in 2 hours. But it always, always takes longer than I thought it would. Usually all of one afternoon, and part of the next. But I really, really love the results, and every time I’ve tried something ‘faster’, I’m annoyed with how it looks.