I started out making doll clothes as a child. I was the only girl in a family of 4 and there were no other girls near my age on our block. One little girl, also named Mary, spent the summer with her grandparents who lived on our block. Her mother actually worked outside of their home in the 50's and 60's. She and I spent the whole summer together playing with and sewing for our dolls. My parents ran a florist business out of our home and my father actually also worked a fulltime job. He worked second shift and when he wasn't doing flower arranging or delivering his creations we had to be quiet so that he could sleep. My mother, who had actually majored in Home Economics before she was forced by economic circumstances to drop out of college, owned a Featherweight machine which she purchased in 1935. She brought it with her to Maryland when she met and married my father. They met when he was stationed in her hometown during WWII. He brought her to "civilization" in Maryland after they were married. She was in for "sticker shock". Not only did my Dad have an elderly English father for her to care for. Their honeymoon cottage had no indoor facilities. Luckily for them his "rich uncle" for whom he had been named actually existed. He helped them purchase a much bigger house with indoor plumbing. The only drawback was it cost more than he was willing to donate. In order for my parents to afford it they rented out the second floor as an apartment. As luck would have it the "full bath" was on the second floor. As a child we bathed in a metal wash tub or in the crude shower in the unfinished basement. I was twelve years old before my parents were able to afford the whole house. The lady who lived in that apartment was kind enough to show me how to hand sew as my mother didn't have time. I am basically a self taught quilter. My biggest goal is to get finished. I usually hand quilt bed size items. The only thing I machine quilt are the 20 or so Linus quilts I make each month. I do as little piecing as possible. To me it is the quilting that makes it a quilt not trying to see how I can drive myself crazy sewing together smaller and smaller pieces of fabric. I love panels and whole cloth. I also enjoy purchasing and handling fabric.