I love the hand quilting in your masterpiece. When we were on vacation in Florida in May a friend of mine pulled out a quilt she had made 30 years ago and has carried it with her thru 3 moves. It wasn't finished so I had her mail it home to me (suitcase didn't have room). It has taken me from May 16 til now to get the blocks hand stitched. No real uniform distance between each stitch but it looks ok. I am about hald done with it. It's rather large so it takes some maneuvering. I have one of my quilts almost done and I am thinking of hand stitching that one. It's the pinwheels. I am going to try to do the stitch in a ditch and see how it comes out. Machine work is as you said easier and faster but sometimes the thrill of the handmade is just so thrilling. I have been watching garage sales for a nice quilting frame so I can set it up to show a larger area to work with. Have an enjoyable summer.