It has been 30 years for me, too. In 1983, I decided to make a baby quilt for our (then) pastor's wife, who was expecting her 3rd child. I was already a sewer and was making most of my own clothing, as well as some of my husband's (we were married in 1981), plus had tried my hand at embroidery, crochet, macramé, counted cross stitch, and even fabric painting (what was I thinking???). That quilt turned out really cute, but, as I didn't know how to quilt, I tied it. Unfortunately, I used 100% cotton batting, which (of course!) fell apart with the first wash. Disaster! I was either too stupid, or too stubborn (or both) to quit. I've made more mistakes along the way, but kept at it. I would classify myself as "experienced".
