Well...I've been sewing since I was 12 yrs old (many, many moons ago)...so had that part down no problem. About a year and a half ago I took a Quilting 101 class at my LQS. That gave me insight to some of the basic techniques of quilting & coupled with my already ingrained sewing skill...I was off & quilting! I'm still learning, I will be taking more classes as they strike my fancy, and I try with each quilt to do something new so I keep learning.