Hand or Machine Quilt.........that is the question.

Once I said, I'd never buy bottled water, never pay to watch TV and never ever machine quilt my quilts. It's not a quilt unless it's hand quilted. I now buy water, pay cable bill every month and at least half of my quilting projects are machine quilted. Only because of the time element. But, machines have advanced, batts have advanced and so do our techniques.
Ah, the machine quilting done today is just amazing!

I'd love to hand piece patchwork. I try it now and then, but it's like being able to draw a straight line, some people can, some can't. I can't. My hand piecing is atrocious. So, I machine piece and machine quilt but I usually always have some type of hand work going at the same time, a too large to quilt for my small sewing machine, a totebag, etc.

But, there is just something soothing to the soul about hand quilting. It forces one to slow down for one thing. Forces you to stop long enough to "see" and think, not just "getter done" and on to the next thing. Stop and enjoy the process.

Maybe the best thing of all, it gives time for remembering. Remembering the Gram, Mom, Aunt and even the Dad or Uncle that took the time to teach you how to quilt. Time to remember the visiting, the planning, the laughing. Or just time to enjoy the comfortable silence that people are allowed to enjoy when they are comfortable with each other. Not to mention, nothing wrong with a little solitude now and then.

What do you prefer to do yourself, hand quilt or machine quilt?