I had my own apartment in New York City for ten years and started making a lot of my own clothes to save money. I'd always loved looking at pictures of quilts but thought I'd never want to cut all those pieces! Fast forward several years --- my husband and I were going to Vermont. Somehow I heard of Hearthside Quilts, an excellent company that sold a huge variety of quilt kits with all the pieces pre-cut. We stopped by, picked out a queen-size Trip Around the World in colors we'd never choose now, went next door to Burger King for a quick lunch, came back and the entire kit was cut and packaged. My second quilt was from them too, and then I started learning and THEN it became an addiction. You'll all understand. My thanks to my husband Jack who encourages me and has always shown an interest, even attending quilt shows and sometimes helping me choose fabrics.