Teresa Vega

I am a first generation quilter. However, I do come from a family of women who worked used threads to make things. My great-grandmother and her sister used to make clothes and my fondest memories of us together are when she was teaching me to make doll clothes. My grandmother was a professional seamstress and would make clothes for the family. At 83 years old, she still has her sewing machine set up in her room. My mother didn’t sew, however, she did embroider, knit, and crochet. So, I like to think that my ability to create was in the blood.

I started quilting in 1997 after I left graduate school.  I went out and bought all quilting books and then got “stuck”. I realized that, although the quilts in the books were beautiful, they did not “speak” to me and I could care less if my quilting stitches were not 12 per inch. So, I started to just do my own thing and have continued to do so. It works for me. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have also found Quilters of Color Network of New York, Inc. around the same time that I started quilting.  The past and present members of this guild have continued to inspire me and their quilts continue to speak to me in a language that I can understand.

I have always drawn upon my background as an African-American and Puerto Rican woman to inspire my quilts. Every quilt I make always has a cowrie shell somewhere on it. Cowrie shells represent wealth and are used by some to divine the future—which I hope will always be good.

Teresa Vega
Cowrie Quilts
CowrieQuilts@aol.com