I have hand quilted for over 30 years, never tried MQ. I have enough problems with a machine when piecing!!

When I started, the quilts I saw were hand quilted or tied. I was making quilts for sale and most of the ones in the shops were tied. When I joined QB 2 years ago I was amazed at how many people were doing MQ and had huge quilting machines in their home.

I am also a hand quilter. I love working on my quilts while watching TV.

From Don- I'm a hand quilt alcoholic & fabric. I can sit from morning till night, and hand quilt. In fact, I'm hand quilting a grdmothers flower garden a lady friend gave me.. I've got a quilt that I've started, and it will be my nexzt hand quilting project. Don

I believe Perle cotton is only used to hand quilt when you are doing the "big stitch" which is really nice on folk art type quilts, but not on traditional quilts. Regular quilting thread is used on traditional quilts.

I am always working on a quilt that is completely hand done while I machine up others. It is so relaxing to sit quietly and hand sew in the evenings, I find it a lovely way to end the day and these quilts are my favorites.

I, too, find it very relaxing. It has a calming effect on me!

I take hand quilting to places where I have to sit and wait - e.g. at the doctors' waiting rooms. It's handy to have something interesting to do. Mostly machine quilt apart from that.

I am a handquilter for at least 40 years. The older I get the better I like it. So much easier than wrestling that bed size quilt through the sewing machine. I have seen some lovely work done by longarm but I would feel like I was working in a factory using that machine. I also would not be physically able to stand that long. What I like best about quilting is the touch and feel of the fabric. With handquilting I can watch TV, be a part of a conversation with friends or family and not have to worry about the bobbin running out or a needle breaking etc. etc. etc. I do machine quilt the 20 or so Linus quilts I make each month.

Hand quilting is my pleasure, those quilts are much softer when finished, and to my eyes, machine quilting tends to dominate the pattern. However, when I make pieced quilts for smaller children, I do have them machine done, because those quilts get much harder use. To each his own--

i use to love hand sewing - counted cross stitch - embroidery but my eyes went a little bad so i got a sewing machine that threads itself. i can't see well enough to thread a really small needle like the betweens or even on my machine. every cloud has a silver lining - i only fell in love with quilting when i got my machine - so i sew everything by machine. you are right though - hand sewing is very relaxing although i never quilted by hand. i am sure it is a learned skill and would do it if i could.