There is hope though! I just got home (feet still hurting!) from taking 3 8th grade girls who helped me after school all winter with a Quilts of Valor project to the International Machine Quilters show in Overland Park, KS. As expected, they were jaw-dropping AWED by the quilt entries--racing around trying to figure which was their vote for viewer's choice! I could not keep up at all. Quickly became apparent that one was really into the paper pieced stuff, one had stopped at a long-arm vendors booth and she hit them all--has a real knack for free motion quilting, and the other was really into the design and colors. when we finally left I asked if any thought they'd continue with quilting--and got a resounding YES from all 3--all 3 looking into lessons this summer and getting their grandmothers to loan/get them a machine. These girls had very little experience and could not find that 1/4" seam to save them before Christmas--so putting together a snowball and 9-patch quilt was quite the challenge!
On a funny note--when my daughter was about 3yr she was the "guinea pig" for being given an Stanford Binet IQ test by a friend--it uses little objects and asks what they are to that age group. When shown an iron, she promptly said "sewing machine"--because that is the only time she ever saw me use the iron!