Well, I've just begun hand quilting (like literally, last week) but the time aspect is one that I'm having a hard time adjusting to. I can quilt a basic baby quilt on my domestic machine in an afternoon. To do the same amount of quilting by hand takes much, much longer - how much longer, I'm not sure, since I've been quilting a week, for at least a half-hour each day, and I'm not done with the center panel yet. :)
But for me, hand quilting is not about the speed. I am enjoying (well, enjoying when I'm not tearing my hair out) learning a new technique and I like the feeling of connection with the quilters of the past and the "low tech" aspect of it. It's just cool to think that the electricity could go out and I could still be quilting away (until I stabbed myself with a needle in the dark).
In the end, I don't think I'll be doing a queen size quilt anytime soon, but it's nice to have access to a new technique when I'm planning future small projects, since the look of hand quilting is different than machine quilting.