Hand quilting to me is very satisfying but I would never do it with a deadline. I made one for my daughter in law (hand pieced and hand quilted) which she loves and it hangs in her house. I made a few smaller ones for people who appreciated them and I made one for our bed that was machine pieced and hand quilted. I say it took "years" because I would pick it up for a while and then put it away for a while. I guess if I worked on it on a regular basis it would have been done way sooner. But, I quilt for my own pleasure so there was no rush.