I've sewn for over 50 years, but really got interested in making more professional looking clothing in the early 1980's. My wardrobe (mainly for my secretarial job) was very sparse. I wanted to make clothes to wear to the office that did not look dorky & home made so I started watching all the sewing programs on t.v. that I could find to watch. As well as learning loads of helpful tips, I learned what notions would be helpful and how to best use them. Somehow watching the sewing shows (mainly Sewing With Nancy) branched out to include quilting shows. There were a lot of excellent quilting shows on t.v. at that time (1980's & '90's). Now I don't have access to any in this viewing area.
In addition to making clothing, I made a lot of dolls. When I quit working in the mid-90's, I quit making clothing, continued to make dolls and started to make quilts. The quilt making has since shoved the doll making totally out of the picture. As it is, I need to live to be about 150 years old (and be active and creative) to make all the quilts I want to make.
P.S.: I'm not sure I'm getting any better at this hobby. Each quilt top I make is quite different from any others I've done, so creates a whole new playing field and new frustrations.