Veronica Jones

Artist Statement

My name is Veronica Hill-Jones, I am a Fiber Artist QUILTER:
My family moved to Compton in 1956. I attend Laurel Street Elementary, Enterprise Jr. High and Compton Senior High Schools. I married Charles Jones, my high school sweetheart and we both are retired, currently living in Carson, CA.
My quilting journey started in 2011 as a promise to my mother on her death bed. My mother and father were both seamstress/tailors’ proud owners “Top Hat Cleaners,” in South Central LA and in San Pedro CA for many years. I watch my mother sew daily, making everything from the clothes my four sisters and three brothers wore to school, church, proms, and each of our wedding gowns. Also, she made the blankets/quilts that kept us warm doing those chilly winter nights.
I never had a desire to sew. When I entered High school and I elected to take a class called “Home-ec” (Home Economic), because I loved to cook! What I did not know was half of the semester was sewing. That semester was an “interesting” experience. I made the most horrendous A-line skirt that I was forced to wear in our school fashion show. But I did learn the basic techniques of sewing.
As promised to my mother, I began quilting in 2011, I was bored with quilting and made dozens of similar quilt blocks that consisted of squares and triangles, which held no interest for me. I started about six different quilts that year but did not finish any of them.
Somewhere along the line while attending a quilt shows with my sister (Linda) I stumbled quite literally, across an African American display of art quilts. OMG! I found the type of quilting that excited me! This is it! I do not have to do what everyone else did, I can do MY THING! I fell in love with storytelling quilts. Implied permission was given, and I have been off to the races ever since. I begin collecting African fabric and before I knew it, I had a quilter’s stash of fabric. I began mixing traditional and improv designs in my quilting, I also started several projects that I never finish. Eventually was able to use pieces of those unfinish quilt blocks in other projects.
In my journey I have joined and quit guilds, switched guilds to find my “notch.” I am currently a member of African American Quilters of Los Angeles and South Bay Quilters Guild of Torrance. I am one of the founding members of the African American SASSY STASHER’S Quilting Circle. The Sassy Stasher’s are a group of women that come together weekly, to sit and sew at the Willowbrook Seniors Center, in Los Angeles.
I have won several awards and have displayed quilts locally as well as internationally. I have exhibited my quilts in numerous venues, most recently “The Road to California International Quilt Show” in Ontario CA. In 2023, I submitted pieces to the North Charleston, SC Fiber Art Show, for the past four years, 2 pieces were purchased and all my submission were selected to tour with the exhibit.
My capacity to transcend boundaries is attributed to my seeking God first. It is God who guides me through every nuance of my quilting process. I also look to my ancestors who bestowed upon me the passion and the gift for making quilts. It is my gift which empowers me to transform the fabric I work with into a rich story it is always my hope that these amazing stories that live deep inside of me connect with my African American brothers and sisters all over the world.