Thanks for starting this thread. My first top is pieced (by machine) and ready for layering (when I figure out where I can do it; thinking of the tacking it to the wall option). It has a center panel of colorful, wacky birdhouses and jungle-like fronds, and I want to try handquilting there. Maybe do some birds or butterflies in the sky. I thought I'd see how that went, and then either continue handquilting the successive "borders" or machine quilt them. I worry that I'm old enough now to feel a little stiffness in my hands when I wake up in the morning (should have "started" years ago?), but I'm game to try.