No one in my family quilted, but they all know how to sew garments and knit and crochet. When my mom was a child, knitting every day was a given - how else did you keep a family of 11 in socks!
My mom has training to be a seamstress but never worked the trade. She did however pass on her love of sewing to me. She taught me to use a sewing machine at age 8 to make dresses for my dolls.
She taught me how to draft patterns, using either newspaper or opened up paper bags for patterns.
Quilting is a gift I discovered once my son was born. A woman in my church who was 93 at the time, made a quilt for every child born. She made one for him too. She was an opinionated but lovely woman who was about 4'6" tall. And she held "court" after every sunday sermon. She'd hand out hugs and kisses and got as many in return.
She passed away on 9/11. At her eulogy, the pastor commented that it was probably God's blessing that she did not have to see the devastation of 9/11, for she no doubt would have had something to say about it!