Con Estas Manos/With These Hands, Alicia Avila

Con Estas Manos/With These Hands

By Alicia Avila | January, 2005

Alicia Avila is an award-winning quilter who is passionate about her craft. Her designs, while traditional in technique, bear the mark of her Mexican-American culture through their deep, bold colors, form, and style. Not only does she hand and machine sew her own quilt designs, but she teaches classes, restores older pieces, and judges in competitions. "I was given this gift many years ago as a child," she recalls. "My grandmother Sabina quilted and sewed. I would watch her and she would always include me as her helper." Born to Mexican migrant workers, Avila has worked hard all her life as a farm laborer, restaurant owner, mother, and wife. For the past 30 years, she has been employed in the medical equipment division of General Electric. For Avila, the art of quilting is a deeply satisfying creative outlet through which she channels her life experiences, artistic skill, and creative vision. She states, "I take great pride in this wonderful talent I have been given."