First of all, Terri isn't short for Teresa. It's just Terri. All the girls' names in my family end in an "i". My last name, Vogds, is pronounced Vögs (like the magazine with an "s" on the end, the "d" is silent). Hardly anyone spells it right. Not even when I spell it out for them. Ah, but, that's a burden I have to bare.
I have sewed since I was a little girl, making doll clothes and yo-yos. I come from a large family (I'm number 4 of 9). So, of course, my mother sewed all our clothes. At age 11, I began making my own clothes after watching Mother for many years. She helped me, of course. But, mostly I just read and followed the pattern instructions. My interest in quilts began during my sophmore year in college. I gave my mother a quilt she had been dying to have as a Christmas gift. It was a pastel Lone Star. A lady in a small town outside of Beaumont, TX made it. Don't know her name or I would give her credit. That didn't seem important at the time. Mother was so thrilled with her quilt that she just had to make one for me. She had made a couple of appliqued baby quilts by that time. However, she had no experience piecing blocks. The seams are now coming apart. Most of the tying didn't hold up to all the washing over the last 20 something years, but it's on my bed every winter. She made it in calicos. And, lots of love. That's why I keep using it.
After receiving that first quilt, I started collecting pictures of quilts I wanted to make someday. I was so busy working full-time and going to college part-time that I only used my sewing talents to make my wardrobe. I didn't start quilting until 1989. That year, I took a beginner's quilt class with a co-worker. I learned to hand-piece and hand-quilt using traditional methods. I joined the Denton Quilt Guild and the Quilter's Guild of Dallas and have been active in both guilds ever since. (Guilds offer quilters of all levels a wealth of information and resources. I encourge all quilters to join a guild and share the wealth.)
Having a B. S. in Industrial Technology (University of North Texas), I tend to want to simplify every task I do and reduce the time it takes. As a quilter, I especially dislike cutting and sewing triangles. There are all those bias edges that want to stretch as you sew. After making a small Lone Star quilt using strip-piecing techniques, my engineering mind just knew that I could streamline other tedious tasks involved in piecing.In 1997, I developed my strip-pieced and quick-cut method along with the 
ruler to simplify and speed up construction of Spinning Star quilts. From there, I began lecturing to various quilt guilds and teaching my technique in workshops and quilt stores. I designed the 
ruler after trying a popular technique to "twist" blocks. I just knew that I could figure out a way that was easier and wouldn't waste so much fabric. Check out the ruler page to get an overview of how easy my rulers are to use
My first quilts are very traditional in design and color. That changed in 1999, after making a quilt for my daughter, Kelsie. It came out of Kari Pearson's book Snowfolk Friends. "Happy Hearts for Kelsie" introduced me to my favorite color pallette: black, white and bright. When I started that quilt, I began a quest for black and white fabrics that I've yet to fulfill. Lately, I seldom make a quilt that doesn't use black and white and bright!