You said:
"I seem to like to pet fabric, collect gadgets, read quilt books and dream of that big quilt in my future."
Ha ha! That's me, too! I just realized I'd better go through all my sewing stuff and figure out just what I have in the way of gadgets. I was looking for something the other day and discovered more "needle threaders" than anybody could ever use (thinking of the future, of course, when I might not be able to thread that needle alone) and all sorts of other stuff I didn't realize I had.
I'm hoping that seeing all the lovely work here will encourage me to press (no pun intended) onward with my own. Welcome!