Spotlight: Teresa Duryea Wong, Quilt Historian and Author

Teresa Duryea Wong is an author, lecturer, historian, and quilter. She researches and shares how cultures and history have influenced quilt makers and their work. You’ll find her rescuing antique quilt tops and finishing them on her long arm.

How long have you been quilting and designing? How did you get started?

I did not grow up with quilts. My grandmother quilted, but I don’t remember much about her quilts. However, I do remember all the handmade clothes that both my mother and grandmother sewed for me over the years. I began sewing very young and made my own clothes, and clothes for my sister, for many years. 

In 1998 I made my first quilt, and it was a collaboration with the woman who would eventually become my best friend. She was an avid quilter. When I went to her home and saw all of her quilts, I quickly realized that quilting was a beautiful art form, and I wanted in. She taught me how to quilt, and I will be forever grateful to her. 

For about 10 years I hand quilted all of my quilts because that is how I was taught – and at the time I loved it. My kids were young and involved in all kinds of stuff, and hand quilting is easy to carry with you and do from just about anywhere.

Eventually I bought a fancy sewing machine and that purchase really changed my process and my quilts. I began experimenting more and using innovative machine techniques. I still have a fancy sewing machine, but I also have a longarm machine on a frame and I absolutely love it. 

Tell us more about your interest and passion in textiles in Japan, especially the influence of kawaii in the art of quilting.

In the early 2000’s, I saw my first exhibition of Japanese quilts and I was riveted. I was really drawn to the taupe palette in this particular exhibition, and I was blown away by both the technical precision and incredible beauty in these quilts. I decided to learn more. I started seeking more and more Japanese quilts to study and began reading more about Japan and its quilting culture. I sought out Japanese fabric designers and began following them, and I took several classes from a Japanese teacher.

At the time, I had a big corporate job that consumed a lot of my time and energy, and when I finally decided to leave the corporate world, I knew it was an opportunity to start following my passion. I decided to go to Japan and begin writing about Japanese quilts and quilt history. I made my first trip in January of 2014 and I have continued traveling there every year since (except of course during the pandemic). 

I’ve authored two quilt and textile history books on Japan, Japanese Contemporary Quilts and Quilters: The Story of an American Import (Schiffer 2015), and Cotton & Indigo from Japan (Schiffer 2017). 

Both Naomi and I consider Japanese quilter Yoko Sekita to be a rare and special talent, and once we began talking about her, and other incredible quilters who work with appliqué as well, we decided to create a book on which we could collaborate. We share the stories, studios, masterpiece quilts, and even patterns, from Yoko Sekita, Aki Sakai, Reiko Kato, Akiko Yoshimizu, Megumi Mizuno, and Hiroko Akita in our new book.  

Since we are both fascinated by history and how ideas and aesthetics from our past can influence art today, we began working together to uncover how Japan’s love of Kawaii, or tiny, cute things, evolved and how a subset of Japanese quilters embody that aesthetic today. 

So, our new book Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan covers just that. In the book, Naomi and I explain how an obscure set of laws in the 1600s set the entire country on a course to adore tiny things.

And we introduce six quilters whose quilts are filled with tens of thousands of tiny pieces of appliqué. The connections to history are fascinating and I think quilters will really enjoy looking at appliqué in this way. Plus, we invite makers to make their own kawaii pieces with patterns for five projects in the book!

Describe your creative space.

My husband and I live in a three-story townhouse in a very urban neighborhood in Houston. We’re close to downtown and the area we live in is actually very walkable with parks, restaurants, and businesses just a few blocks away. 

I split my time between two worlds. I write, research, lecture and do all the computer things on the first floor working from an antique desk that belonged to my grandfather. He was a country doctor back in the days when doctors made house calls. My desk is the one he used from his home office. I have very vivid memories of my dad using this same desk as he pecked away at his mechanical typewriter.  

On the days when I’m not writing or lecturing, I’m in my quilt studio on the third floor. That’s where my Instagram handle and indie publishing label came from. @third_floor_quilts  

I’m fortunate that my studio is large enough to hold my Bernina Q24 longarm, plus a cutting table (that doubles as an ironing space) and a big sewing machine table as well. One wall holds a large design wall, and I have red Ikea shelves along another wall for my fabric. You’ll find several shelves filled with antique Japanese fabric, mostly indigo, plus a collection of commercial Japanese taupe fabrics, and so many other eclectic collections – everything from colorful Kaffe Fassett to the eclectic and artsy e Bond. 

Of course I love being in this space. From my windows, I can see part of the skyline of downtown Houston and that view makes me happy. I feel like I am close to the vibrant center of a wonderful city.

Both of my worlds of writing and quilting are creative, but the writing and research half require a different skill set and a lot of time sitting at the keyboard. When I start to feel out of balance, I try to walk away from the keyboard and spend time in my studio working on a quilt. 

Quilting was born of resourcefulness. Tell us more about how this has influenced your work with vintage textiles and the other books you’ve authored.

I recently published a book on the history of Native American quilts and this is a story that was completely born out of necessity, and in some cases, quilting was even forced on young girls in boarding schools run by white missionaries and administrators.

Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022 (Third Floor Quilts, 2023) shares the history of how quilting came to be a beloved pastime in Indigenous culture. Like most quilting stories, the early quilts were made to be used or sold and as such, they were an important source of income. Over time, the aesthetic evolved, and many different Native American nations today have distinct aesthetics. 

I really loved researching this history and writing this book because I think it is so important to expand our views of American quilt history. I’ve given lectures on Native American quilt history to many quilt guilds in the U.S. and Canada, and each time, I get wonderful questions and comments from quilters, some of whom are hearing about parts of this history for the first time. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

I’m not sure about the best piece of advice I’ve received… but I often think of a great quote by Sheryl Sandberg, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” 

I think fear holds us back sometimes, especially women. When I start to work on a new writing project, or begin a new quilt, sometimes I get fearful and worry what people will think or how this will be judged. It’s easy to get paralyzed by fear. So, I think of this quote and just plow forward. 

Where can people learn more about you and your work? 

My website has good information about all of my lecture topics, dates I am booked for lectures, plus images of some of my quilts, videos, and press coverage. https://TeresaDuryeaWong.com 

I post often on Instagram @third_floor_quilts

I’ve also conducted several Textile Talk interviews with really interesting people in the quilt world, and those are available free on YouTube. 

Native American quilter Susan Hudson
Textile Talk: QSOS Interview with Susan Hudson conducted by Teresa Duryea Wong

Berkeley Curator Elaine Yau
Textile Talks: BAMPFA curator Elaine Yau interviewed by Teresa Duryea Wong

I’ve been interviewed for several podcasts, Abby Glassenberg for the Craft Alliance; Quilter on Fire; Rev Craft Business; and Quilting Arts Podcast.

I have appeared on two quilt TV shows: Quilting Arts TV and The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.

Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?

I would love to tell you about a project that I’ve been working on for the past two years — and that is to collect antique quilt tops and finish them on my longarm. During the pandemic, I purchased one quilt top that caught my eye, and I thought it would be fun to finish it. I loved that process so much that I have since finished more than 20 antique and vintage tops. The oldest one in my collection dates to about 1850.

A lot of people seem to think that the very old antique quilt tops have to be finished by hand stitching, and I’ve discovered that most quilters don’t want to do that, so the old quilt tops just sit at the bottom of someone’s closet.

When they make their way to garage sales, or to dealers, I scoop them up and finish them. The process of collaborating with something so old and finishing it with modern techniques fascinates me. I give the patchwork a lot of respect and add hand-guided, free-motion quilting motifs to enhance the patchwork, not cover it up or detract from it.

I do not use a computer. Everything is done by me. I also only use natural materials, all cotton batting, and either all cotton thread or silk thread – no synthetics. 

Eleven of these quilts were exhibited at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2024, and I hope to exhibit them again at other quilt museums and venues in the future. I also take these quilts with me when I present my lectures to quilt guilds in person and it’s fun to share these with the quilt world. 

Here’s a video that Tara Miller @quiltdistrict recorded of one of my gallery talks at Festival. “Finally Finished” at Houston Quilt Festival 2024 with Teresa Duryea Wong

Interview posted November 2024