As my mother always said, thank goodness we're all different.
I posted early on in this thread and frankly am a little saddened by some of the responses that i read as derogatory to people who have the ability, desire, need, or skills to turnout quilts by the number. Do you measure yourself against those people or judge their work, desire, or motive? I think it's awesome that everyone can participate at their own level in this art.
IMHO: The process involved in making a quilt is a private process - from deciding on the fabrics & colors, to the pattern, to the quilting. It's based on personal likes and dislikes and choices along every step of the way. We are all different, with different past experiences that allows us to move thru the aforementioned process in our own method and timeline.
I work 40-45 hours most weeks at a fairly intensive detailed job, which is good for me since I lean to the type A personality. I have a husband, home, grown children, grandchildren, mom, aunts & uncles, cousins, nieces & nephews, friends, dogs, cats, horses, yard, garden, laundry, help a friend with her business in the evenings and some weekends, belong to a guild - you get the idea. I have lots going on every day. I buy groceries, do the laundry, some housework, cook, mow, help daily with the animals and some ranch work. I too get up fairly early, 5 am most days, and it's typically after 10 pm before I lay down. Apparently I don't 'need' a lot of sleep! I drive over an hour each day to work - that's 'thinking' time for me. I think about fabrics, designs, sizes, what if's. I took art lessons for years - I don't spend a lot of time pondering over colors - I can select 10-12 fabrics for a queen size quilt of a fairly complex pattern in 10-15 minutes. My sewing room is organized by color, by amount, by project. I don't have more than 2 physical quilting projects going at the same time, and that includes binding. I always have quilts on the list that I think about!
I find my downtime in cutting and sewing. Cutting typically takes me the longest, apparently, I sew fast. As I've said before, all of my quilts are LAQ'ed. I've found that whatever stage in the process I'm in allows my brain to work in a different mode than my paid work. And my daily goal is to work at least 1/2 hour on my current project. Some days I'm fortunate enough to work many hours on them. Yes, I've looked up at the clock before and it's been 1 am... I sometimes get involved in the process. I can't 'wait' to see how the end product is going to look!
My process and method rejuvenates me and makes ME feel good.
I don't really care how many quilts you make in a year, or I make in a year.
I care that I make quality attractive quilts that are going to be loved and used by the recipient.