QKO

As one who makes and sells kits, I would offer a couple of additional suggestions:

1.) If you're purchasing a quilt kit and will want to enlarge it or have a matching backing fabric, strongly consider purchasing the additional fabrics at the same time as the kit, even if you don't plan on completing it for awhile.

Since fabrics, especially now have a limited life-cycle, waiting to purchase later may ensure that you won't be able to find the fabric you want for the backing or additional borders, etc. This applies to most kits, but there are some lines that are ongoing and reprinted all the time, so for kits made from these rare fabric lines you should be able to safely ignore this advice. For this reason it pays to do a little research on the fabric lines used in the kit you are considering.

2.) Many kit makers now, especially online shops, are not constructing a sample quilt, because it's very expensive to do so with a limited kit run, and the quilt can be fairly represented using photoshopped or EQ7 images. If you look at a kit in an online shop and are uncertain at what's going to be in it, don't be afraid to call the shop and request a few fabric samples of the included fabrics! Most reputable shops will be happy to send small samples if you aren't too outrageous with your requests. (i.e. don't request dozens of samples that take a lot of time to produce.) Likewise, requesting a sample or two of the main fabrics will give you a good idea of the fabric quality that's in the kit.

3.) If you are thinking about expanding or modifying the quilt, call the shop to see if it's possible to create a custom kit just for you. Most shops precut all their kits, but some custom cut kits after they're ordered. Doesn't hurt to ask, and you may save you some money just by making that phone call.