My Quilts

This iconic city and I have a long relationship. My story unfolds in this maximalist landscape filled with Wegman and Faith Ringgold murals, the dog walkers, the subways – the lifeline of the city with all kinds of people (even a bear with an umbrella sighting). Louis Armstrong and Lady Liberty anchor the scene. In between are moments that I remember and moments that tell my story. 91 inches wide! Hand & machine applique, hand embroidery, hand quilting, machine quilting, thread painting, stamp/block paint. Embellishment and upcycled clothing.

Since 2021, Teresa has finished over 30 antique quilt tops using her modern longarm. Each of her quilts is finished with hand-guided, free motion quilting – no computers. The stitches honor the patchwork and bring out the beauty that was created by the maker long ago. This series of quilts has been exhibited at the International Quilt Festival, Int. Quilt Museum at the Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Texas Quilt Museum.

“Bits of Me” is partly autobiographical. The English letters, Japanese and Korean words, animals, humans, buildings, and other images, reflect a part of my story. Other symbols are purely graphical. The design was inspired by Composición Universal, a 1937 painting by Uruguay-Spanish artist Joaquín Torres-Garcia. Linen and woven fabric is from Japan, and the taupe palette is Japanese inspired. The applique is raw edge, fused, and machine stitched. All of the quilting is free motion, no computers. Cotton batting and thread.

Deep midnight blues, shades of gray and black, with pops of bright blue, come together in this improvisationally pieced quilt that reflects the palette of the streets of my favorite city, Manhattan. The word Manhattan is stitched 142 times with 1,363 yards of black silk thread. The quilted letters are almost unreadable on the front, yet they pop on the solid white backing. There are 3,383 pieced patches.

Grace’s Star. Made 2023. Inspired by a 1968 Star quilt made by Grace Zimega (Teton/Western Sioux) who lived on the Standing Rock Reservation. I entered it into the Cherokee National Holiday Quilt Show (which is open to everyone) and it won 1st place in Machine Pieced/Machine Quilted! So honored.

The “Crazy One” was shown at Quiltcon in 2023, and at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2024. Next, it was loaned to the Bowers Museum in Santa Anna, California for the exhibit “Quilts, Cloth & Commerce” in 2026. Visitors and museum curators loved this quilt so much they asked to acquire it for the Bowers permanent collection. So happy to see others celebrate all the joy and weirdness in this quilt, and I’m honored that is now in the collection of such a prestigious art museum.