Hand piecing - huh! I did my very first sampler that way; drew and cut out cardboard (cereal box) templates, traced all on the back of fabrics, pinned, hand stitched, and finally put the sashing in between the blocks to make the top. It is sandwiched and quilted by MACHINE; however, the border in still not finished (shame on me). This quilt was started in 1987 .... need I say more. All my piecing and quilting is done on a sewing machine these days; otherwise I would never get a quilt finished. I love and admire hand work, especially applique, but the only way I even do applique is by fusing and machine stitching with clear thread or with glue and turing the edges with a stick (or fingernail if I have one at the time); I love Sharon Schamber's technique. They look beautiful, but they are not hand stitched. My only hand stitching on my quilts are when I sew the binding on the back of the quilt with the ladder stitch. I think quilting should be fun and relaxing no matter what method the quiter decides to use; if the quilter's happy with the result, that is all that matters, IMHO.
Josi FL