I too have been sewing all my life, (learned to sew on a machine at age 5) but was mostly garments and interior decorating type stuff. I just got serious this summer after buying a 12' short arm setup. The best thing I ever bought that pertained to quilting was the 1/4" quilting foot. For years working in factories we made 1/2" seams. It was VERY hard for me to get use to making the scant 1/4" seam.