Well, it depends on if you mean actual hours put into the project, or start date to end date! LOL

I have a huge quilt on the wall in my living room (approx 6 ft X 9 ft). It's my own design. There is a mariner's compass in the center surrounded by a large panel done in hand applique. Then there are several pieced borders.

The designing and drawing of the applique part took a long time, both in hours worked and time elapsed, due to waiting for inspiration. Then I was bored with it and put it away for a long time. Then more design time deciding what blocks to use for the borders, colors, sizes, etc. Then more boredom. Not to mention a long time quilting such a big quilt! I put the start and end dates on the label and IIRC it spans about eight years. :)

Donna

I had a good laugh after I posted this. The latest Connecting Threads catalogue was in the mail box. Skimming through, there was a page with ready made quilt labels. One said "This took forever". Should I order some?

Theresa

I sometimes get "stuck" on a quilt and then it sits (and sits and sits). It drives me crazy. I really need to work on my UFOs and just get them finished!

I had a small (48” or so) hexagon shaped quilt sandwich hanging on my stairwell for almost 2 years, waiting to be quilted. I didn’t know how to do it so it sat and sat and made me feel guilty. I finally figured it out and had it finished in 2 days. Now I marvel at how long I put it off.

Are you asking about the hand appliquéd Dresden Plate that’s been in the works for about 22 years...or the Sunbonnet Sue that’s lanquished in the projects’ drawer for 15+ years?

Then there’s my Great Grandmother Betty’s Double Wedding Ring quilt blocks/ovals she pieced together in the 1930s. When she was in her 80s she gave them to my Grandmother to complete. When I was in my late 20s Grandmother gave them to me saying she would not live long enough to finish them. She told me to get them finished.

I’m 62. They are in the projects’ drawer. I better look sharp and get them finished.

For the life of me I can't determine the longest time I've taken on a quilt. It could be the one that I hand-quilted for my sister way back when I first started quilting. But there have been a few that seemed like they would never get done either because I fell out of love for them in the process or that something in the process was giving me fits. Since I am always determined not to start a new project before finishing what I'm on I always pretty much finish a quilt within a couple of months. The hardest quilt I ever made was the one called "Bordered Diamonds" designed by Kaffe Fassett, a beautiful quilt but oh, my what a pain to piece!! There was one that I couldn't wait to finish because I had forgotten that I hate navy blue and that was the background color. And there have been a few that I started with a tight FM design and got weary of it before finishing, but I bit the bullet and did it.

I can't think of how long some of mine have taken to finish, several projects of mine have been sitting for a few years now. I think the quilt that I worked on the longest was one with extensive trapunto work...several hundred 1"-2" circles all over the background. Just cutting away the batting took forever! Looked great though.

Really beautiful quilts, Lois! I am partial to greens and browns as well.

Nannykins...can we order those "this took foreve" labels in bulk?,., LOL

Lois, your quilts are fabulous, but I don't recall you having a decade long quilt project like some of us...I've always been impressed with your quilts and how quickly they seem to come together. Love that one block wonder....one of these days.

Caroline: LOL..love your sense of time...right up my alley!

If the quilt is still in process, but you are actively working on it, does that still count? I think I started Patchwork City I. 2014, I finally finished all the blocks I'm going to make for this modern quilt, but I can't assemble all yet. I'm so excited, I purchased a sewing table for my retirement gift, but need to wait until I do some work in my sewing room to prepare for the new table, soooo the quilt blocks are happily hanging on the wall waiting for me.

Valarie

Val, I've been quilting for only about seven years, so I don't have any decades long projects. But I did forget to mention my first quilt - a Christmas tree skirt that I started one day when I decided to start quilting and then set aside for about four or five years. I came back to it after I was inspired by a quilting friend from Ketchikan, AK, and bought a new sewing machine in 2011. Seven years and 67 projects later, I'm still at it. That includes the six or so tops that still need to be quilted. I suppose I shouldn't count them; they're not finished until they're bound. On second thought, that might take a decade.

Don't look at the points, They are really sad. I hadn't learned about trimming the HST to size at that time. I just sewed them together. Haha.

It looks really good to me! :-D

Love your Christmas tree skirt.

Oh, I guess reading all your answers, that my quilts really didn't take that long. It felt forever to me because once started, I usually barrel through to the end, and these got put aside a few times, while life took over.

Now I do have three tops waiting to be finished and as soon as that {~<%%^ basement is finished, they will be done.

thank you all. It was interesting reading your responses.

Theresa

I have a batik/black queen sized plus quilt I have been working on since 2000. It is all pieced and sandwiched, but I am hand quilting it. I put it aside and let it sit for 6 months (or more) at a time. While I was teaching, it sat for more than a year at a time! After I retired I really thought I would get it finished - well, that was in 2010, and it still isn't done! I really love this quilt - still - and need to get it out and work on it. Because I am using black and so much of the fabric is black, it really needs fresh eyes and good light. Maybe this summer???

Sue

This is the first quilt top I ever made, and I've yet to quilt it, so it's my longest project. All the others, I have completed in a relatively short amount of time. I've gone so far as to pin/baste this one to the batting & backing, but I'm afraid to do the actual quilting. I suppose I could just do straight lines, but I feel it needs a better design.

That is very pretty Larri!

Theresa

Oooh, so colorful! Nice job for your first quilt top. I would suggest that you do your straight line/stitch in ditch around your blocks to help stabilize the sandwich first, but then play around on practice sandwiches with filler or decorative quilting to see what you like for your quilt. Then Dive Right In! It' normal to be nervous on your first big quilt project, but the remedy is to gulp hard & just do it! Know that you can!

Really pretty Christmas quilt, Larri. And a wonderful first project. Sometimes you just have to wait until the right quilting pattern presents itself. I have found this to be true anyway.

I'll take it from the opposite side...we've seen folks finish 4 quilts in a day when they've started with a ready to quilt panel.