My mom didn't sew a stitch, but my grandma did. She didn't quilt however, only tying wool whole cloth quilts for use in Wisconsin. Grandma did everything else however: crochet, rug hooking, embroidery, tatting (which she taught me), and made my doll clothes by hand, etc. When I was in grade school, I started making doll clothes for my Barbie and Skipper. No pattern, just cut and sew. They even had set in sleeves. Between 6th grade and Jr. Hi. my girlfriends mom taught us to make an A-line skirt. In Jr. Hi. and High School I took every home economics class
offered. In college I majored in Home Economics and made everything from bathing suits to dress coats. I like baking which probably was the attraction to my husband LOL, but sewing was always at the top of the list! I made clothes for our kids, smocked dresses for our daughter, did all sorts of needlework crafts throughout my life (starting with macrame LOL, counted cross stitch, knitting etc), made tied whole cloth quilts like grandma, but didn't quilt. I took a few "adult quilting classes" at a community college when my kids were little but didn't like the templates, hand piecing or quilting, even though I love to embroider. Go figure. My quilting only took off when I finally got a better machine and heard you could use a walking foot and actually quilt by MACHINE. When I lived alone in our retirement house for three years, waiting for my husband to actually retire, I quilted day and night. That was in 2009. One of the things I was taught that I can't eliminate, even though it adds bulk to my seams, is to backstitch at the beginning and end of a seam! I was a clothing sewer too long. I even do it on chain piecing. One thing I regret following was: never touch the bobbin tension! That prevented me from feeling comfortable using my serger. Once I took a serger class, probably in 2013, the serger finally was used and I got the courage to buy a Tiara mid-arm and constantly adjust the tension based on the thread used. Silly things but somethings are hard to shake. Now quilting is my passion!