De Colores

Here's the self portrait quilt I just finished. Now that is finished I think I need to quilt the faces more. But here's the picture.

I quilted the story of my life on the background. Here is what it says:

I was born on March 21, 1978 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. My mother is Mildred Muñoz, my father is Enrique and my sister is Tania. It was my grandmother, Xenia, who thought of my name. It is her name backwards. I have two great nieces, Tarina and Kiara. No pets. I went to kindergarten at Montessori. The rest of my school years were spent in Academia San José. There I had some of my best years and learned a lot. I became fluent in English, had very good grades, was captain of the Cheerleaders, sang in the Glee Club, danced in Talent Shows, was insular treasurer of the National Honor Society, and learn to sew clothes. María de Lourdes, Enith and I became very close friends. I had a crush on Omar “El Caco”, my Senior Prom date. In 1996 I graduated High School and came to the U.S. to go to college. I got a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. In my freshman year I met Rob Cook, started dating in November 10, 1996 and have not been apart for more than 3 weeks since. In 1997 I had a car accident and suffered a spinal cord injury. I spent 5 months in the hospital and many years in physical therapy. It was a hard moment in my life but many good things have happened because of it. In 2000 I started quilting and has been my passion ever since. In 2001 Rob and I bought a beautiful house in Greenfield, MA. Two years later we sold it and drove across the U.S. and Canada looking for a new place to live. We moved to Paducah, KY with the Artist Relocation Program. We bought a house built in the 1850’s in the LowerTown Arts District. We have spent over two years renovating and I am going to open Galería Aynex. I have great neighbors and friends and I know there I will build more beautiful memories and quilts.