i've been sewing since i was a child. went away and did other things, got a crappy sewing machine a few years ago. when it finally broke my mom was awesome and let me choose a machine for an early birthday present. i ended up going with a bernina in early 2008 and have been obsessed with sewing ever since. the machine which i got from s&s sew and vac in poughkeepsie ny came with lessons where my teacher bunny introduced me to a whole bunch of great techniques which i didn't know about before