I learned to embroider when I was 5. My mother wouldn't let me use the machine until I was 7. On my 7th birthday I made a doll from an old sheet. She was as big as I was and wore my clothes. I went on to sew like crazy. For my first day of school for 6th grade I did my first set in sleeves and button holes.
My first "quilt" was a series of 4 inch patches of scraps from all the clothes and costumes I had made for myself, my sister, and my mother during high school. I used these patches to cover my embarassingly tattered wool blanket so i could take it to college.