does it seriously take FOREVER?

I was going to try to needle felt something cute on my needlebooks for the swap, since my little needle felting kit has been sitting unused for almost a year now... never even opened.... am I doing it wrong? help me! I stab and stab and stab and it just barely is sticking together at all.... fwiw, i am using felted wool poorboy and felted wool jersey peices.
if this is going to take an eternity then I am going to have to come up with some other way to make these thing cute!
