There's absolutely no reason you can't piece it by hand....just keep your directions / graph near you and your pieces organized. Sometimes i think a hand pieced quilt can go together quicker than a machine stitched because you can work on it any time, any place you want. Something i do - because for me it's worth the time - i mark my 1/4" seam line on 1/2 of my squares so i can just sew on the line.
Good Luck. PS...don't forget to make yourself a "travel" kit so you can take some of it with you to work on at lunchtime or in the doc's office....
