My first quilt was a trip around the world quilt. I had seen a magazine in the mid 80's that talked about making a quilt in a day. I had no idea what a rotary cutter was or anything else they were talking about. I did buy a self-healing cutting mat but had no idea what to do with it. And they didn't have any inch markings on them at that time. I didn't want to use a cardboard template and didn't have the cutting ruler to go with the rotary cutter I didn't have. So I marked strips with a pencil and tore when I could. The quilt took me two weeks to make, but I finished it. I gave it to my cousin and his wife as a wedding gift. Then I found out her mother is a professional seamstress! The wedding couple thought I had bought it until the little "made by" tag in the corner was pointed out to them. They were very impressed.