I will have to hand piece (mostly) and quilt because wrestling fabric through a sewing machine is too hard on my painful arms. I am just starting but I found two books that might help:
Quiltmaking by Hand, by Beyer
Complete Guide to Quilting (Better Homes & Gardens)
The first is a book by the grandmaster of hand quilters/hand-peicers. It has ALOT of info. The second is a general book on quilting but has many sections on hand quilting and is very visual and has lots of pictures. I got both with coupons at borders, or cheaply at amazon.com. Since I haven't even started yet, I'm sure you will get much better answers than mine from the experts. I'm just happy I can answer one question on this board instead of asking all of them :mrgreen: :thumbup: