Wow, I am a bit jealous of all those who had dear friends or family members to introduce them to sewing or quilting. Absolutely nobody in my family does crafts or arts now, apart from my dad's step sister. I grew up in the same house with my grandparents, and my grandmother used to crochet sometimes or do embroidery and cross stitch, but not very much. I learned to crochet from her, but always hand sewed dolls clothes by myself when I was little. At 15 or so I wanted to be a fashion designer, so my parents kindly sent me to three sewing classes and I made a skirt, a dress and trousers. The skirt was never worn, the dress never hemmed, and the trousers ripped the first time I wore them. It was also the year my grandmother died, which was the most tragic loss to me as we were very close.
In university I sewed a lot of my clothes and made bags for people, and when I was doing my Masters and lived in a town with a quilt shop I took one of their classes. I have always had a sewing machine, used ones mainly as I moved from country to country fairly often in my twenties and just got rid of them when I moved.
I finished the top from my quilt class and loved it, but then the handquilting of the actual quilt was time-consuming and I just carried it across the Atlantic a few times and everywhere I moved unfinished.
My dad saw it once and said he'd like it, so for his 65th birthday last December I finally finished it, although I now know I didn't do the binding properly. He doesn't know though and loves it anyway.
When DH got moved for his work last year I gave up my job and haven't found a new one yet. Finishing my dad's quilt got me interested in it again and I got a Janome for Christmas and just finished a baby quilt for a friend and another top last night.
I have always liked fabrics and DH gets annoyed sometimes if we're out shopping, because he walks ahead and loses me, while I absolutely had to stop to touch something. I also love to guess what fabric is made of and feel happy when I guessed right!
The only obstacle to this is that none of my friends have the least interest in sewing or quilting and that I haven't met anyone in my age group who shares the hobby. My friends just think it is a bit quaint, but I love it and hope to one day be a really good quilter, despite not having anyone in the family to show me things.
I wish I had started much earlier and that I had been able to make quilts for my grandparents before they passed away. Apart from my dad and husband, nobody in my family would like or cherish a quilt, and we don't have any children, so I will just make them for friends and myself.
But I do think it is very special to have skills and tips passed on through generations of a family, so love reading all the stories. :-)