Interesting thread and yes I plowed through all 11 pages. I probably could have sewn a 9 patch block in that time!
However, I think some people are too quick to read mean attitudes into some of the responses. I don't think anyone is mean spirited about it. Often things are read into the written on line words that the writer did not intend. I am sure my post will also be misinterpreted. But here goes anyway....
I am a turtle quilter. Mostly because I rarely quilt anything smaller than a queen size and I go for complex patterns like Mariner's compass, NY Beauty, Lone Star, samplers, etc. Until recently I was a handquilter, taking usually around 4 years to complete a quilt. I now have a LA but now I quilt for others, leaving less time to piece my own.
As for turn around (ie time management)...there is quite the difference between a needle turn appliqued Baltimore Album quilt and a jelly roll race quilt. Some of us quilt for pure pleasure (Selfish Me!) and some for a purpose (Noble Charity). I quilt to challenge myself. I day dream about someday entering a quilt in a big show like Paducah but know my skills, 20 plus years in the making, are still not quite there but if I keep trying maybe someday.
Anyway, it is all good, it doesn't matter if your choice is to do a bunch quilts that can be assembled quickly or savor the process and choose designs and quilting motifs that are elaborate, challenging, labor intensive and take a lot of time to learn and master. It doesn't matter if you are a quilter that quilts for your own motives (yourself or gifts for family and friends) or one that feels compelled to quilt for every needy cause (a noble and good thing). In all the time I have been quilting, I would be hard pressed if I have made 50 quilts in 20 years and that is including wall hangings and baby quilts! But I don't consider myself any less a quilter, just like I don't consider the people who churn out a quilt a day any less.
Some of us like simple utility quilts and some of us adore the lavish show quilts with piecing and quilting that blows the mind and makes you say "wow, how did they do that?" and many, many of us like both.