There is a quilty hashtag (#igquiltfest2023) going around this month on Instagram. I was going to participate but I was busy the first few days and didn't want to join later so I never did. Yesterday's prompt was Why I quilt? and it got me thinking and I thought it would be a good blog post to let my readers know a little of what's behind my art. So here it goes...

Can't believe I found a picture of the box online.

I've always been creative. My first artsy memory is when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My mom had an old sewing machine and a sewing box hiding in a closet that she never used. At some point when she was younger, she thought that she may take up sewing but never did. She kept it in case there was a button that fell off someone's shirt or some quick fix had to be done. I was always intrigued by it. I thought it was the greatest mystery box and wanted to play with it. If someone had told me then that I would be sewing every day of my life, I wouldn't have believed it but here I am. Mother's Day was coming up and I wanted to make something for my mom. I decided to get the sewing box and see if I could make something for her. I had butterflies in my stomach and an itch in my hands. I wanted to create something. This was a big undertaking. The box was a heavy and it was high up on a shelf so I had to get a step ladder, climb up, bring it down without dropping everything on the floor and do it without anyone noticing. Luckily I was one of those Gen X kids that parents left by themselves for awhile while they go to work so I had my chance. I got the box after some struggle and took it to my room. There were some fabric scraps, lace, ribbons and sewing stuff. I decided to make pillows. One of my stuffed animals had to die (sorry) to get the stuffing. I hand-sewed some little pillows (didn't want to kill more animals) and hot glued the lace, ribbons and fabric roses. I was really proud of my pillows. It was the first time I created something out of scraps and I loved the feeling. My mom must have liked them too. Many years and moves later, my mom redecorated my niece's bedroom. I went to see the room and to my surprise, the little pillows were on her bed. 👀

I didn't do anything creative with my hands after those pillows. I was busy beign creative in other ways, mostly dancing. I took a sewing class in high school making clothes and made some Halloween costumes for my nieces. Wasn't very good at it but I enjoyed it. It was always in the fitting where I would mess up.

Fast forward a few years, I had a serious car accident. I suffered a spinal cord injury and my whole world changed. When your spinal cord gets injured, your body resets and forgets everything. I had to re-learn to do everything from eating to walking and even breathing. It was a tough time emotionally because the thing that I enjoyed the most which was dancing, I couldn't do anymore. I felt worthless. At the time, I lived in Massachussetts and discovered this thing called quilts. Coming from Puerto Rico, I had no knowledge of what a quilt was besides those puffy blankets you buy at Walmart. I had that old sewing machine so I bought a book and made my first quilt. It came out pretty nice and I didn't have to fit it to make it look good. It wasn't the best quilt and the fabrics were not great quality but I was really proud of it. Most important was the feeling that I had created something out of nothing and people liked it. It gave me a feeling I hadn't felt since the accident. I had something to contribute to this world. I could do something. I guess that is what art therapy does. So quilting was my therapy and it got me thru a very rough time in my life. Now I still get those butterflies in my stomach and the itch in my hands.

Why do I quilt?

In 2 Different Directions

Catching Up