I started by sewing my own clothes in high school and when I first married almost 40 years ago bought a sewing machine. What I really enjoyed was embroidery (but only cross stitch) and have done six or seven quilt kits in my lifetime.
I think my first quilt was a Log Cabin, mainly because it was so easy! Then the fabric stash started to grow. I started to think about taking early retirement, how I could supplement my income and bought a long-arm eleven years ago.
Now, after 2 1/2 years of retirement, I very seldom have time to work on my own quilts because my customer base is large enough to keep me busy. (And the stash and UFOs are overwhelming.)