I retired in September of 2009. These are my answers:
1. Yes, my sewing room stays organized, although some might call it organized chaos when in process. At the end of each step, everything from that step goes to its place. In our Florida p,ace, my sewing room is a tricked out armoire, so the only things there are those in use.
2. Yes, if 3-5 hours is a large block of time. Mornings is my time to quilt. Afternoons I play bridge. Evenings I do hand work, talk to DH, go to dinner with friends, watch TV.
3. In the last two years, I have bought little fabric, usually things that I just cannot resist—a panel of a decorated Christmas with the northern lights behind it, a blue heron panel perfect for our Florida place, pieces of batik that will go into my Bali star eventually.
4. No, my stash doesn’t bore me. In fact, I often find fabrics while pulling a color that I had completely forgotten. To be honest, I was gifted with about 500 yds of fabric last year. She has taste very different from mine, so shopping her stash is like going to the fabric store.
5. I never developed floor to ceiling stacks of magazines. Instead, I will tear out the one or two patterns that I like and put them in binders. And cull the binders every year.
6. Seldom take classes, because they are not on topics that interest me. Do sit in on charity sews sometimes.
My advice would be: you now have the time to concentrate on stretching your quilting boundaries. Do something that you said, “But I could never do that”. You now have the time to do it right.