I use a thimble on my pushing finger but not my receiving(bottom) finger, just push gently but still get stuck some. Sounds like a lot of us don't get to town very often, I'm 27 miles from a small town (very small) and about 40 from Walmart, Mall,and grocery store.When I go shopping it takes everybit of 6 hours and that's not much time for window shopping, that's knowing what I'm after.I work 10-12 hrs. 6-7 days a week so I treasure my quilting time.