all 3 of my granddaughter's started sewing with me when they were young, the youngest was 4 when her daddy was deployed the first time to the middle east,she came to me with her little box of fabrics and said "i have to make my daddy a quilt from me...i picked her up a little singer machine, a little carebear table just her size and she was off and sewing in no time. when it was time to quilt it we turned a dresser on it's side for her to stand on and she quilted it on the long arm...she is 9 now and i think she has made 5 different quilts. and even before she started she was already a 'fabriholic'...my daughter used to call me complaining that any time they entered any store that sold fabric little miss amanda would insist on a piece (usually a fat quarter) it finally just became normal to always have to buy her 1 piece of fabric every time, so she already had a stash when she was 4, and boy oh boy, did i ever get 'told' one time when i helped myself to a peice of her fabric...(although mine is free game:))
the other 2 girls sew too but more purses, skirts, fun stuff, and the middle one loves embroidery and does a beautiful job (she started at 9 and is 13 now) but that youngest one, she is going to be a quilter extraordinare!
i learned to sew in 4-h when i was 8...
and my son and nephew took it up pretty young too