About 1 1/2 years. I tried to finish a quilt top my grandmother made in the 70's. I am retired now and have the time to learn new tricks for an old dog. I have made a few small quilts now. I did , hand stitched , finish my grandmothers top. I now try to machine stitch my quilts. The lady who showed me how to quilt does all her quilts by hand to finish them.