I taught myself to sew around the age of 12/13. I come from a family of seamstresses. I love to sew no matter what machine I use but I get very frustrated if my machine does not do what it is suppose to do. My first machine was a Kenmore which I sold just a couple of years ago to a sewing machine store for parts because I had worked the poor motor to death. I have a Kenmore and a Brother now, both not in a cabinet. I hate a machine in a cabinet even though I learned to sew on one.
I made my first quilt by hand- a 9 patch after my son was born (almost 30 years ago). I tend to look at patterns then change them to suit me. I do the same thing with clothes and often don't use a pattern except to look at it and read the directions. I am a quilter who loves to make as many different quilts as I can. I have made 23 since the first of the year (just tops) for my husband's family and one for my aunt and one for a cousin. I have a applique I am making now for my GD's toddler bed. I think I would go crazy if I could not come home from work and sew for a little while each day.
I have to say thank you to the women in my family especially both of my grandmothers who instilled a love of sewing inside me.