I started getting into all of my mother's sewing stuff when I was five, playing with the buttons, thread, needles and fabric scraps which used to drive my mother crazy. When I was seven, an older lady from church helped me stitch my first piece of patchwork for a dolly blanket. Finally when I was nine, mom said there's my Featherweight and all the sewing supplies I have, "Go and do what you have to do". I quickly started spending all of my allowance on fabric at our local 5 and 10 store. By the time I was 13, I was sewing all of my own clothes and many items for my sisters and my mom and doing all of the family mending. I just continued to sew and started my first quilt (didn't finish it until I was 31) to use up my accumulating pile of scraps and my scrap bin still isn't empty!