Hi Estella and Victoria. My name is Diana and I am soon to be 62. I have 4 daughters and a son and 11 grandchildren. I live in sunny San Diego and have been quilting for about 14 years now. I take lots of classes whenever I can (I still work full time) and I use my quilting to relax. I do not assemble my quilts by hand but I do a lot of hand applique and hand quilting. I even prefer it to using my machine. I belong to 3 guilds and an applique group. Don't let the machine terrify you, if you make a mistake, you can always correct it. Just remember that the Amish who are professional quilters put an error in their quilts on purpose to make them unique. Have fun quilting and ask lots of questions here, you will get lots of help. That is one thing about quilters, they love to help.