I grew up around some quince trees, and my mother made a lot of jelly. It's great, although she did complain that segmenting them prior to the boil was a bit like trying to chop up billiard balls.
(The thing I really miss, though, is wild raspberry or bramble jam. Mmm...)
Yes they are certainly hard to cut up. My wife can't do it.
I used to have a raspberry patch - nothing nicer than wandering out on a warm morning and gorging fresh raspberries - certainly more fun than getting caught up in a bramble.
If you want to make jelly (or quince butter), just boil them until they're soft and process them through a food mill. No peeling or cutting up of hard fruit needed.
I have never actually made quince jelly - to me quince is a stew fruit cooked in chunks the same way baked stone fruit are eaten. A big sharp knife and some strength will get you there :)
(The thing I really miss, though, is wild raspberry or bramble jam. Mmm...)