Cindy is an author, television host, and teacher of traditional and contemporary quilt techniques. She has been interested in quilting since childhood, having been taught by her grandmother while growing up in the farm country of Iowa. In 1996, her first book, Snippets Sensations, won the Primedia Award of Excellence. The craze of her Snippet technique made the book an international best seller and opened the door for Cindy to teach the art of quilting around the world. She has had wonderful adventures and has great fondness for her students throughout United States, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.

In addition to appearing on eight different quilting television shows, Cindy was co-host of the PBS TV show Quilt Central. You can still catch her on TV and the web, hosting for www.quilterstv.com, where she is the network's full-time interviewer.

Cindy resides in Oahu, Hawaii, with her husband, Michael A. Lilly, a practicing attorney and former state attorney general, and their teenage son, Alex, and two cats. For leisure, Cindy and Michael enjoy swimming, reading at their north shore beach home, and hiking. In addition to hiking around the United States, they have traveled overseas to hike in Spain, Portugal, England, Scotland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Croatia.