My mother taught me to sew and do embroidery. She told me my stitches were very tiny like my great-grandmother's. I remember embroidering a pot holder in first grade. Mom would buy pillowcase tubing or pre-printe pillowcases and I would embroider them. I started making aprons when I was about 8 or 9 with no pattern. We had a family friend called Aunt Kate who sewed quilts, patchwork aprons that looked like an upside down tulip (I'm trying to duplicate this from memory, but I'm having a hard time), as well as clothespin hangers that looked like dresses. Mom couldn't read a pattern, so I had to wait until my sophomore year of high school to take Home Ec. Apparently the principle thought that freshmen girls weren't old enough for Home Ec. I was the Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow in my senior year and made it to the final 10 candidates. I made all of my own clothes, even after leaving high school. I took a break for a few years, then gradually picking it up again. I taught myself to quilt using a Georgia J. Bonesteal Lap quilting video and her Spinning Spools pattern and templates that came in two binders. I finally took a quilt class and learned to machine quilt and I've been doing it ever since for over 25 years. Quilting keeps me sane for the most part, I have made dozens of baby quilts to give away, raffle quilts for church and then started making family reunion quilts about 12 or 14 years ago, can't remember how many. Hubby and I are "retired" on SS, although he gets disability, so I had to purge a lot of my fabric when we moved to an apt., but I stiill plan to make quilted items and try to sell them at craft shows on online.