Of course you are young enough to learn FMQ! I'm 69 and am just starting now.

Give it a whirl! One of my friends told me the other day that 70+ is the new 50!! : )

I'm approaching 80 and learned to FMQ after 70. You can do this.

If you are posting here, you must have a computer. Some of my younger friends are too scared to even touch a computer. I tease them about a computer cannot jump at you and kill you. My words land on def ears. So go ahead and jump right into any new challenge. You will be never younger than today. Besides what is the worst that can happen?? That you get better with every try?

You are not old! I'll be 80 in March. Just, as others have said, don't expect to "get it right" the first time. I recommend making practice squares and working a little each day. I have found that about 8 hours of practice time, spread out over several weeks, making sure that you watch where you are going, not looking at the needle. Good luck and let us see your progress. (I am a left-handed quilter with a damaged hand from heart surgery and had to learn to FMQ.)

Just give it a try and see if you like it! Start with small quilts like mug rugs and table toppers-- they are much easier to manage under the needle than a big quilt.

My sister asked me if I thought she was too old to go back to school to earn a degree. She's only 51. Heck no, go and do not stop. My neighbor is almost 80 and just got her first long arm. She did most of her quilting by hand and some by DSM. She giggles every time she learns something new about her machine, a nervous giggle but it's fun to watch her. She'll call me and say "Theresa, do you have a minute? Sure I've got a couple hundred!"

love this thread. yes, go for it. if you feel like learning. i do some Free hand machine quilting. but i have decided i would rather sew them, and someone else sandwiches them for me, and just does a panogram. for 40, 50 or 60 bucks. i have not talent or patiences to learn exotic Free motion quilting. curly q's, and i sure can't draw, so what makes me think i could draw with thread? but if you think you can, give it a try...

I will be 80 my birthday in February and I'm still working. The thing about getting older is this.... inside I still feel like I did when I was 30 (only wiser). It's the body that is ageing not the real me. I too know younger people that are scared stiff of a computer. I mean really young like 50ish. I will never understand why you should be afraid of new things. I worked for a temp agency for a while and really loved going into new offices and learning new things. BTW I can't free motion quilt worth a hoot.

Go for it!!!!

My friend was 100 last spring when she put a few hand stitches in my quilt. I'm so grateful she did, as she passed away in April.

I'm 70 also, do what you want, as long as you enjoy it!

Well, I was just a kid in my late 60's when I bought my Sweet Sixteen sitdown quilting machine, and now that I'm 71 I still have a lot to learn. I just love playing away at quilting. One suggestion for learning to free motion is to buy a pretty panel. Back and batt it and just follow the lines. I got one with flowers and a bird house and had a ball with it. I put shingles on the roof of the birdhouse and stitched around flowers and leaves. You forget you are doing FMQ and it's like a kid's coloring book. Doesn't matter if you stitch outside the lines - just have fun with it. I offer to quilt some of the charity quilts our guild makes, like Project Linus, so I get plenty of practice and it doesn't have to be perfect. Just do what makes you happy. I think that's the best thing we can do for our health, our brain, and our well being!

It absolutely counts! It's a new, different skill. The fact that you are thinking about a new skill means your brain is not gone.