We each think and work a bit differently -- I started with scissors and then rotary cutters and haven't really felt the need for any cutting machines (yet). Find what works for you and what you enjoy. But set reasonable standards -- I maintain that quilting is a physical thing just like playing the piano or ping pong and that to be good requires practice, and practice requires doing. Just by doing we get better. We can always try to do the best we can do -- but the rest of the world sees changes as our skills change.
I started quilting quite young (in my teens even) and I was rather intimidated by the "little old quilting ladies" when I started but since I've become one myself, I've learned that quilters are a pretty good group of people and nothing to be feared. We have a lot of talent on the board, but honestly us old timers get a lot from the beginners, too. We're all quilters, after all
