I also follow those leadings that tell you who a quilt is for, as you are making it. Its so awesome.
Mountainwoman, you mentioned a quilt may not be working out and have a negative impact on you. I wanted to tell you that usually there is a period near the end of the making of a top, where you can fall out of love with the quilt and wonder, 'what the heck was I thinking?' At that point, press on... usually you will fall back in love with the quilt once it's finished. There's a recent thread here, titled "Is This Quilt Worth Quilting?" where that exact thing is happening! Hope she will finish her unique quilt.