Hi in North Carolina (my home too). I just started hand piecing and hand quilting early this year. My sister has done BOTH for at least 30 years. She got me started at the age of 70 and I LOVE IT. It's slow but very relaxing for me. I don't worry about how LONG it will take. I'm just enjoying the process and will really enjoy the finished project (it's a QS quilt). Yes, it's still around but we're no hearing about it as much (everyone doesn't use a computer and have access to this web site. We'll just keep finding the hand piecers and hand quilters.