Marty, thanks for starting this thread. I love reading everyone's stories.
Like a lot of you, I started sewing when I was a child, took home ec, made my own clothes, etc, was not a stranger to a sewing machine.
I made my first quilt in 1982 from a kit-it was a queen size log cabin--I still have it. I used cardboard templates and hand pieced (except the borders) and hand quilted it. By the time I was finished with it I hated everything about quilting!!!
Fast forward to Fall 1999, Carlisle, PA. My next door neighbor informs me that she is going to start a neighborhood quilt group and invites me to join. I looked at her with disdain and said that I cross stitch, but I would NEVER quilt again! Never say never!! I joined the group and for 2 months I X-stitched while others worked on their quilts. By Christmas I owned a rotary cutter, mat, rulers, fabric and was finishing my first wallhanging! Quilting had come a long way in those 17 years. The rest is history!! And that X-stitch I was working on---it is still not finished!!!