Another Inspirational Story

Back in the end of August, I received this email in response to the blog I did about Anna Krow, who is an avid quiller in spite of her struggle with Parkinson's Disease. Antonieta shared her story about how quilling helped her after a brain injury. She agreed to let me share her story with you.

Dear Pat:
My name is Antonieta Velazquez. Some years ago I am in quillpictures yahoo groups.
I admire all your work and other quillers. I read in your blog about a person with Parkinson´s disease that started quilling. I want to tell you about how quilling saved my mind.

In 1994 I had an accident with my head in a library of my working center, I fell from stairs. That day I was looking for information about some chemical process for my master degree in this place. I am a chemical engineer and I was working in a scientific government company. The accident was very bad and my brain was damaged. In the next months I fell into a nervous depression. The words in my mind were lost, this accident affected my work. Then I took many pills for my brain.

One day I was watching TV and learned about a woman making quilling in Mexico City. Then I got a book on the internet (Malinda Johnston) and started quilling. It was fascinating because my brain started to improve and depression left. At that time I was married and I had a little child. (Today my child is 12 years old), and I was surprised because through quilling, I recovered my words and my brain´s abilities. I think I was better for 1999. In that time then I was a recognized quiller in my city, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I appeared in TV programs and my quilling was shown in handcrafts magazines. But I started a little worried about my chemical engineer career... my mind only wants quilling and quilling and quilling!!!!

In 2002 my child entered school and I entered again my chemical world. For now I have a little business of handmade soap. I think the quilling saved my mind, my brain...and my life. Now I am more creative with my work; I also have another career in education. I think the quilling "opened" my mind to the creative work, included handmade soap and chemical process. I don’t know how I can explain this, but I think the quilling stimulated my brain to work better in all senses.

I returned to chemical engineering, but I think the quilling helped me so much with my brain accident. Today I am not quilling, but I enjoyed so much to see all the beautiful works including yours. Your tea cup is really wonderful. I remembered those beautiful quilling days. I am sending you my first project (fence), when it was shown in an English magazine called "Simply Quilling". I was 30 years old when I sent to this magazine my project. The magazine published my work and I was very happy about it. Then another Mexican handcrafts magazine published other projects of my creation.

I want the people with brain disease and nervous problems to know they can be health with a handcraft like paper quilling. I think paper quilling and another handcrafts should be studied by neurology-scientists because they really help to recover the brain from some problems. I don’t know the process in the brain... but it works!!!
Quilling works better than pills. I think the quilling developed the language area of my brain and recovered it.This area was damaged with the accident, but the mathematic area was not damaged, because I was able to do equations. Then I think the impact of the quilling was in the writing-reading-creative area.
It is hard for me to explain you in English, but I know you understand me.


I am 40 years old now, and I am a very happy chemical engineer making soap. My time for now is very busy. But I hope one day I will return to quilling. Anyway I want give you and another quillers thanks for sharing your creations.