I treasure my interest in and ability to make quilts. It's something that gives me great pleasure and sometimes keeps me sane <g>. It's something that will still be here (hopefully) when I'm not. It's an extended expression of patterns that have been around for over 200 years but when I had my "two cents worth" it makes it mine. It's the making and thinking of who this quilt is for, mostly good thoughts <S>. I sometimes spend months making a quilt and usually change it at least 2-3 times in mid-structure but the end results is usually a surprise to me. It's the feel of working with cotton material, it is a very forgiving material. Although I usually do all my quilts on the sewing machine, I feel connected to the women (and men) that have done this same pattern 150-200 years before me. Making quilts gives me a feeling of self-worth and the satisfaction of knowing I made that! My grandmother and her mother made quilts along with my aunts and cousins, but I taught myself (I wasn't living close to my grandmother when I became interested in making quilts). Gypsy