I loved watching Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson, who exposed us to many, many quilters and their methods. The first quilter I saw was Georgia Bonesteel - her video and Spinning Spools patterns and templates helped me make my very first and only hand quilted quilt for my daughter. I have loved Eleanor Burns for years as she shares her methods of making quilts faster and easier. I just read a thread that Mary Ellen Hopkins had passed away, sadly. I was fortunate enough to watch her speak at a quilt gathering, her sense of humor and love of quilting was contagious. There are more, but those 4 quilters have definitely influenced my quilting especially.