Janny...I attend a group once a week that is all hand quilting, piecing, etc. There are many other groups out there. I love all aspects of quilting and if I want to make a quilt for the kids to drag around, etc...I do it all w/the machine. For I want them to love and use the cotton right out of them. But, I do have some that are my special ones and in fact the one I am working by my chair is exactly that. I am hand appliq. huge blocks, then will hand stitch the blocks together and then will hand quilt it when I am ready to do so. I might even donate this one for a charity. Just because you hear of other aspects maybe more in your circles...we still exist. Another prob for me is the huge list of quilts I want to make:))Skeat

I think quilting is the supreme way to bring your personality into something that will last forever. If you hand quilt, machine quilt, longarm it, etc...it still brings you and your personality into something and gives it a voice and presence of it's own.

So I say, do your own thing and just feel good about it!

well put mrsj82! Quilting is an art and we are the artists w/the thread to create what is in our inner self....:)Skeat

Remember, too, the LQS are in business to sell fabric. Hand quilting is slower than machine quilting. So you are more likely to make more quilts in a year if the tops are machine quilted versus hand quilting.

I have only hand quilted small wall hangings. I love doing it, but I love the fabric stores too!

Carol

I love to hand quilt and just like a few others said, do it on special pieces. It is very relaxing to me and I love the way it looks. And it wrecks havoc on my fingers too, but I just try to build those calluses back up everytime I do a project!

Janny , I hand quilt the fabric panels . Yes , sore fingers , but we forget about that till the next time ! lol.I haven't tried any feathers or fancy designs yet . I was loving doing the panels. That was until walmart decided to get rid of their fabric depts :cry: One store here has a few but not the wildlife ones I was doing , boo hoo ! What kind of hand quilting do you do ? Annie

My grandmother hand pieced and quilted by hand. I machine quilt on my machine for the simple reason that I do not have patience. When I have a few more quilts done, I may consider, because I am joining a quilting group that hand quilts. I like the look of Hand quilting better then machine quilting, and I am not using free motion at this point(do not have enough control over my machine :roll: ) Sorry for being so long winded, but to sum it up, I don't do it because I don't know how.

I love to hand- quilt. It is relaxing but time-consuming. I use hand- quilting for special quilts, but most of my quilts are done on my machine.

ranger

I dont think anything done by machine is as beautiful as real hand quilting. Machine quilting is certainly beautiful too..and I would gladly have either.

However,,,,so little time, so many quilts to try. I am taking quilting up later in life....besides the time factor...I also have some arthritis in my hands and wrists. I can knit, and I can hand sew binding on a quilt...but they would never stand up to quilting a whole piece. You just keep on stitching...it is beautiful and I think much more valuable.

Margie :)

Janny ~ I just want to say that long arm quilting isn't as easy as it may look;I have had an HQ-16 machine for over two years and have not been able to master it. At least not with the quality that i want to see with my quilts. Consequently, I am trying to sell my long arm Handi Quilter (anyone interested?). I love to do handwork and someday I would like take a class on hand quilting. I love the look of it. In the meantime, I send out large quilts to a long arm quilter and I usually do stitch in the ditch or simple meandering on my standard sewing machine. I love the fact that there are no "RULES with quilting! Nita