i went into a shop one time for some advice an a quilting pattern for an orphan quilt top i had rescued. the shop owner told me...if you sit and quilt for one hour a day you can have a queen size quilt done in a year...wow, really? i went home, loaded up the quilt and machine quilted it in about 6 hours....i don't have any idea if she was right...just hearing that was enough for me to say..." never mind"...i am way to impatient to even consider that.
i have hand quilted plenty since that fateful day...and i do not believe it would have taken me that long...in my mind at least i'm fairly fast.
remember as you go along and get into the rhythm of it you pick up speed and if will take less and less time to quilt your quilt.