Thanks to you all. I'm going to try the" maximum 7 squares long" rule and see how it looks.
Will get back to you on this as to what it looks like.
As for the time it took me to do this particular "Lavender and Lace" pattern. I would say about a year since I didn't work on it all the time, took time out for us to move from one state to another. But for the diligent stitchers that work on it every evening (and depending how quickly you stitch) a person could probably get it done anywhere from 6 months to a year.
As a companion piece cross stitch pattern to the one I'm completing, I'm going to begin the "Second Angel of Freedom". I saw a picture of someone who had completed the two, had them framed and hung in their hallway with a small table in between them and it was just beautiful.
I've completed Lavender and Lace's "Earth Angel", "Guardian Angel" and the current one.
Thanks to all of you again! Like I said, I will get back to you very shortly as to how the "Maximum 7" works out!