While most of my quilts I piece on the machine, I always have one or two quilts going that I piece and quilt entirely by hand. We travel a lot with our 5th wheel camper and I can sew while riding in the truck, or sitting outside at the campground. I have found the I love the process of hand sewing because of the accuracy and the calming effect of it. I still usually have a sewing machine in the camper also, depending on what I am working on at the time, but always have my hand sewing project also.

I believe that with hand piecing, it is not nearly as necessary to press each seam as you go, because of the control you have over each seam.

Also, the process of hand piecing goes so much faster than I ever thought it would! I thought it would take forever to hand sew a long seam, but it goes quickly.

Enjoy the process!

If you really want to do hand piecing then go for it. It sounds to me like you're real problem is your sewing room set up. Look at that room with a critical eye and try and figure out what makes you unhappy with it and then try and fix that so that when you want to do a machine project it's not a chore.

I have one of those little wedge shaped wooden hand pressers ...ok...know it has a name but cant think of it right now -- it does a great job - all you need is a flat surface to put the sewn piece on - then run the wooden "do-hicky" over the seam and it's "pressed".

Until I needed bifocals, I always crocheted or knitted while watching TV. Yes, since I was 11 years old and I'm now middle-aged. You can work on quilt projects as well - binding and hand pieced hexagons are really popular. Currently, I can't do both - I hope to fix this with the next pair of bifocals. However, I'm one of those persons who will only do handwork that I can't do by machine easily.

One problem to consider - if you have cats (and maybe even dogs), you need to work out how to prevent access to your needles and thread. Many pets die when they ingest thread - it wraps all up in their intestines. Don't assume that because they haven't done it in the past, that they won't do it in the future. If you don't have a box that CLOSES, then you need to remove your sewing stuff from the living room every time.

I love to have something to work on while watching TV. I hand quilt & hand applique. Also I substitute teach and hand quilting is a good way to keep myself busy while the students are doing their work. But there are also times I like work at the sewing machine.

It is not necessary to iron hand piecing. In fact, when Jinny Beyer irons her hand-pieced tops she doesn't pay any attention to which way the seam allowances fall! She just irons from the right side and that's it. (At least in the video I borrowed from the library years ago where she demonstrated her hand piecing techniques.)

I just started a class at the local high school on hand quilting. I love it so far. only made 2 squares but it is relaxing and when each square is done you have a good feeling like evey hand stitch is a little more love going into this quilt. We are even making out own templates and only hand sewing. No rotary cutting either only scissors.

I got my Grandmothers Flower Garden done by english paper piecing while watching Tv going to appts. etc. Hand piecing and quilting is very relaxing however I now do everything by machine cause arthritis has taken over .

I totally agree with PenniF. I keep my piecing/quilting beside my chair. I can pick it up and do as little or as much as I want to do without a lot of prep time. It becomes an enjoyment rather than "I don't really have time to set up the machine, etc." It's more relaxing to me when it's not a lot of trouble. Just enjoy the process and don't make it a chore! I also take the time to mark the 1/4 inch seam because that makes the piecing much easier. I also quilt around each block just about 1/8 inch (more or less) from the seam. I don't mark those, though.

I also love hand piecing. It is very relaxing for me. I do English paper piecing and regular piecing. Progress is slow but I'm not into quilting as a competition to get things finished. I know I will never complete some projects and others get put aside when I'm bored and pulled out at a later time. Like other quilters I have my UFO's and my To Do list.