Name: Ana Conceicao

Member of CVAMQG since: 2015; since the guild began.

How long have you been quilting? I began quilting around 2009.

What is your favorite quilting tool? My hands; without them it would be complicated.

What are your favorite fabric lines and substrates? Do you prefer prints or solids?  I love fabric in general, it is probably one of the main reasons that I began quilting. Textiles have always drawn me in. I love prints and solids, I love to use fabrics other than cotton, sometimes linen or silk.

What is your favorite color combination? Blue, a tiny bit of yarrow, white, a hint of metallic and orange. Or black and white.

Favorite and least favorite parts of the quilting process: I don’t really have a least favorite part of the process, I like to do different things at different times. Often when I get restless with something I am working on, I change to something else and that gets me excited about the process again. Starting a quilt is the hardest part of the process for me, I don’t hate it though; it just challenges my brain in a different way.

Why do you quilt? I quilt because it is a way to work out feelings, thoughts and ideas. Quilting is one of the many forms of textiles that I have worked with that fulfills my OCD tendencies in a productive manner.

Where do you find inspiration? Nature, life, experience, travel, books.

Quilters who inspire you: Carolyn Friedlander, Heidi Parkes, Denyse Schmidt, Bisa Butler. I am also inspired by every single “anonymous” quilter that came before me. We owe a lot to them.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure while quilting? Listening to books or podcasts.

Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us:

I have a BFA in craft and material studies with an emphasis in textiles, and the whole time I was in college I said I would never make a “utilitarian” object. Some 20 years later here we are, and I love beautiful, thoughtful and utilitarian objects. Making them and using them.

Most of my quilts still are not bed sized but they are often throw sized, making them utilitarian. Irony.