[DubaiSis]

I think it's a great hobby IF you have room to put your sewing stuff in and close the door. In my current living situation it's out in the middle of everything and putting everything away every day isn't realistic.

Here's a suggestion for anyone interested in taking up quilting but is intimidated. Look for a "mystery quilt." It gives you step by step instructions but you don't see what the quilt looks like. The first one I did said to buy X number of blue fabrics of similar tone and X number of a light color (I chose yellow). The quilt turned out really pretty although loaded with errors. The mystery quilt had me doing way more complicated procedures than I ever would have otherwise, but it taught me a lot about the process.
If you google Mystery Quilt, you should find some information to get you started. But seriously, don't cheat.

There are a lot of materials required to get started as a quilter. Before you make a huge investment I might see if you could borrow or inherit a quilter's older stuff (except for your scissors and rotary cutter which should be new and high quality). The cutting mats and clear plastic rulers are expensive so those I'd see if you can borrow for a while. Plus, you'll develop your own preferences and I can tell you having a $50 cutting mat sitting around doing nothing because you don't like the size or shape is pretty annoying.