Married to Charles A. Samples for almost forty years; mother of two great sons; gramma to four little ones. Have lived in Omaha most of my life. Began a love affair with "sane" quilts in 1971 or '72 after seeing a silk "LOG CABIN" coverlet in an Ethan Allen catalog and started amassing a large stash of true calicos and many other questionable cottons and poly-cotton blends. But it was an unexpected encounter with an 1887 Crazyquilt in 1987, almost exactly one hundred years after it was made, that changed my life! After eight years of serious study, with my Charlie's encouragement and consent, I started a professional career as a teacher of antique embroidery stitches/methods AND Crazyquilt patchwork in 1992. Since then, a 226-page book has been published by American Quilter's Society (1999; now in its fifth printing). Am finishing three Workbooks this year and four Patterns designed especially for crazyquilters and fabric embellishers. Am very hopeful to be allowed several more years of creative endeavor and quality time with my darlin' family and sister-friends, all of whom are brilliant and too gorgeous for words! (They know who they are...)