When I first learned to quilt I learned hand quilting, first class was to quilt a whole cloth pillow. Then I took a class making a patch work pillow also hand pieced. When I took a sampler class most blocks were hand quilted, except our log cabin was done with machine stitching and rotory cutting, as well as the boarders. I like that we had both methods as I feel very comfortable with either. When I made a pillow for a friend (she wanted one with four patchwork panels-finished size of about 4" each) I hand pieced it. I did learn some good techniques taking classes. I had never taken sewing class in h.s. but in one of my first quilting classes I learned about thread having direction, and some other things that have helped me.