These are so interesting to read! Well, here's my story. My mom taught me to sew and embroider and when I got married (the first time) I bought a sewing machine with what little extra money I had. I made payments for 3 months and used it to make curtains or sew patches, etc. When my youngest was a toddler (he's now 28) he got into my machine and took it apart (literally) and I couldn't get it back together to work properly. The tension was all messed up and I couldn't afford to get it fixed properly. I managed to get another yard sale find a few years later and then my new husband (10 years now) bought me a Baby Lock Decorators Choice with an automatic threader and cutter. Oh my, I thought I had died and gone to heaven with that thing. My mom had done a few quilts and quilted them by hand - which I thought was way too time-consuming. I took a short course on quilting with a friend and machine quilted a queen sized Log Cabin design - which I lovingly call my pucker quilt. And now I can't stop quilting. I'm totally hooked and I LOVE it. :-)