Hand Stitching! Why?

I look back at my quilting history, and it has been quite a journey. I started out in the late nineties, wanting to get back into sewing. When my children were very young, I would sew a lot of their clothing and always loved to sew.  I also bought fabric back in the late seventies, when the bicentennial  sparked a new interest in quilts.  Time and family never allowed me to make that quilt and eventually after moving several times from one state to another, the fabric was donated to some charity.

Some twenty years later, with my children grown, I once again got the urge to make a quilt.  I purchased a new machine, hopefully this would help get me closer o my goal. It was a designed to really help someone conquer machine quilting, which was now becoming quite popular. Yes this could be the ticket!

It didn't  really do the trick, I gave it several tries. I even made a machine appliqued top that turned out quite well. Then I tried to machine quilt it, and became so disappointed in the results. Over the next several years and another move I found myself with a lot of time and this wonderful thing called the internet that was bubbling over with information and forums that discussing any subject that interested one.  A lot of practice later, I am making the quilts that I had dreamed about thirty years earlier.
So for me hand stitching is relaxing and allows me to be creative. I try to fit a bit of sewing into everyday of my life.  In today's busy world, it gives me "ME" time. A time to unwind, kick my feet up and ponder life.