I would imagine you COULD do OBW either way, but machine would probably be faster. they have little "hinged" mirrors in the quilting section you can sit by a design and get a "multiple" view to kind of see what a kaleidoscope of the design will look like.
There are some "design in the design" for OBW's the book I have shows how to make 3-D kind of squares within your hexagons.