I've only hand quilted one small piece so far, but I'm going to do the Jane Stickle quilt and like Lacelady, I would like to quilt each block as it's being done. She quilted each block on batting, and is in the process of connecting the blocks and hand quilting through them. When she finishes, she will put a backing on it and quilt straight lines to keep it all together. It's coming out beautiful!
Hand quilting is overwhelming for me and I'm not sure my wrists could take the constant motion of doing it. I have never tried doing it on a large piece because it seems like I would never get to the end. Maybe I should just suck it up and do it! :lol:
There is no doubt as to the appreciation people have for hand quilted items. Fancy machine quilted items can be really nice also, but hand quilted items seem to have more put into them from the heart. That's my two cents!