I stayed with my grandmother while my mother was in college. Grandma let me make tents with her kitchen chairs and quilts. I was about 3-4 years old.
When I was eight, I had Rheumatic Fever. At that time, the treatment was bedrest and Penicillin. My mother (who by then was a teacher) stayed home with me. She sat beside me and taught me to quilt. This was her way of keeping me quiet. I still have the first quilt top I ever pieced. Pretty rough, but still special to me. I never got around to quilting it. I've been quilting now for 57 years!