I always liked EB and her patterns, and she is quite helpful for new quilters. However, I had a whole new respect for her when I attended a program at her shop in California recently. She was broke, divorced and had 2 small children whom she had to support. She told the group how she even had her kids help her "dumpster dive" for usable goods. She found a job at the local town rec center teaching quilt-making, so had to run home and whip up 2 sample place mats in order to show that she could actually quilt. Her classes soon became so popular that she wrote manuals (then books) to assist the students, and her classes tripled. Now, her adult sons and other family members work with her in her business. What a great success story of hard work, humility and determination!