The last quilt I finished by hand (a king size Cathedral Window) took me three years. I started another, a Sunbonnet Sue, and my hands swelled so bad again that I never did finish it. I look at it every now and then but don't pick it up to work on it. I went into debt for awhile and bought a Statler Long Arm and am happy quilting again. I used to think that machine quilted quilts weren't really quilts. Funny how your thinking morphs with your situation. I love the quilts I quilt by machine now.