Started sewing (officially) at 10; hand embroidery earlier. Made all my clothes all through school; bought a treadle after we were married; (don't remember what happened to it); finally took up oil painting! Did that for about 10 years, then worked 12 hrs a day and not enough time for painting. That's when I started quilting. I had to have a creative outlet or go nuts. So in the late 80's, I bought all kinds of quilting supplies and used most of them. Started in earnest in '90 and have been going strong ever since.
What a great thread; it's so nice to learn everyone's background. Wonder if our backgrounds have anything to do with our preference of style of quilt we do.