Hello everyone. I am a 40 year old mother of five ages 5 months, 2 years, 3.5 years, 5.5 years - all boys, a 9 year old girl, and two cats. Oh . . . and a husband. Anyway I am also the youngest of 9 children. I have always had an interest to quilt but with children and working as a teacher I just never seemed to take the time to learn this great treasure from my mother. However, within the past six months my Mother has begun to teach me the art and love of quilting. Unfortunately, just this past month she was diaganosed with two incurable brain tumors and only has about three months with us. She is living with me and I take every moment I can to learn all that I can. I am a very quick learner and I already knew how to do basic sewing thanks to my Mother. Due to her condition we are just doing some basic work. We probably have about 5 quilt tops in the making beacause she changes her mind about what she wants to start with me. And thats ok becuase I am enjoying every minute of this precious time with her. It is so nice to have this private time with her to listen to stories of her childhood as well as her interest and love for me and my children. Her current interest is in the bow tie quilt. We are cutting the pieces and having fun with color patterning. We also have two simple square patterns we are working on as well as grandmothers flower garden and the one that looks like 3d blocks. I taught myself the art of rotary cutting and just love it. I wanted to share that secret with my Mother but it is already too late. She continues to do some very minor scissor cutting. I am hoping there will be some kind people out there willing to teach me some of their secrets as I know I can't learn everything in so little time with my Mother. I live in the Chicago area and would love some hands on learning as I get stuck if anyone is able to share. Looking forward to hearing from you. God's blessings to you all. lovemycats