Hello Mom. Greetings from Seattle.
Isn't the internet a marvelous thing? Here we can all be quilters together regardless of age, location, or children at home. I started quilting as a senior in high school and was a solo quilter for a long time because I found the "little old quilting ladies" a bit intimidating. Since I've become one I can say that we are nothing to fear. Quilting people in general tend to be lovely, sure a lot of us have a lot of quirks but you have that in any group. I will admit, that at 58 even though I've been quilting for 40 years, I'm still the young one in my small group.
I don't do much applique either. I'm often tempted, I love that flower and vine sort of border... but then I come to my senses!