I am fairly new to quilting (on my fifth) and I only quilt and piece by hand. I find it relaxing and like the fact that I can take my work anywhere (the piecing part at least!) I am drawn to old, antique patterns and quilts and I guess that's a big reason why I do it by hand -- I like to be old-fashioned. Another big part of why I quilt by hand is because I am afraid of the machine! I always seem to get the tension wrong or something weird happens and I can't fix it. I try to go too fast and mess things up. I try to go fast with my hand-work too but the general nature of the process forces me go slowly. Plus, I'm sure if I used the machine I would spend MILLIONS more on fabric because I would whip quilts out as fast as possible!