I'm sure you'll have pages and pages to read. . . but here is my story. I started making quilts with scisors and newspaper patterns in 1971! I've been hooked ever since. I tied the first few quilts, then tried my hand at machine quilting on my small machine. That was for the birds! The first time I discovered a longarm quilter in my area, and took a quilt to her, I was excited at the result. That was in 1997 or 1998. I started researching longarms in 2001 and finally bought mine in 2003, when my mother loaned me 2/3 of the money. My new husband was very supportive. And I knew it was too expensive a machine to just have for pleasure.
I practiced for a year and donated a lot of baby quilts to my 2 guilds, and then I started introducing myself as "Your longarm quilter." Finally someone took the plunge and brought me a quilt. I've been buidling my business ever since and I love it.