Meet Angelique Shah

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angelique Shah. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angelique below.

Angelique, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

I grew up the only, and oldest daughter in a family of 7 brothers. I was always the one fighting to protect my younger bothers from bullies. My mom would worry for me as I held onto the city buses in the Bronx, riding my roller skates.
I was the big sister that did jumps off of ramps with my bicycle. I was the first person to leave home for the military, and travel all over the world. I wanted to show my brothers no fear, that they could do anything they wanted if they tried and didn’t let fear hold them back.

I often was the only female in male dominated industries; US Navy, airplane mechanic, washer / dryer repair, sales. I worked physically hard, if not harder to prove that I could do it just as well as everyone else.

I left an established 18- year career to open my custom clothing shop Bronx Girl Designs. The business closed after 2 years, but I learned so much from this experience. Now it’s 20 years later and I’m running my quilt shop called Mojo Quilts and more and I have no regrets on the chances and choices I’ve made. Taking risks has made my life more fulfilling, fun and makes for great memories.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a New Yorker from the Bronx, I went to the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan. This foundation is what led to my passion for creating beautiful clothing, home décor, and accessories. I discovered quilting in 2017. Quilting opened up a world of possibilities and reignited my passion for creating. Learning this new skill allowed me to combine my fashion and quilting together. In quilting, I discovered my style which was more modern and art-based; also, wearable quilting arts really made me excited.

I am inspired by many things I see, including art in museums, nature, and fashion magazines. But my biggest source of inspiration has been my fascination with the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. I’ve made several quilts inspired by Kahlo’s strong use of color, and form. My quilts and quilted objects showcase her flowers, monkeys, and images in organic and non-functional ways. Reading about Kahlo’s hardships and what she had to endure to create, inspires me to honor her creativity along with my Latina heritage and culture.

My quilting style has become more focused on sustainability in the last year. Quilting is an art form that creates tons of waste, I save all fabric scraps, threads, and spare batting. I incorporate many of the cut off selvedges, fabric scraps and even paper/plastic bags in my art. I don’t follow formal patterns but instead prefer to design organically with found objects. My goals for the future of my business is create more using found objects and keeping my impact on nature to a minimum, using textiles I already have and purchasing used whenever possible.

My sustainable art has been featured in several local galleries, and will be featured this year from Jan – April in Bullitt County libraries. I’m most excited about teaching young people the life skill of sewing, and teaching adults how to quilt. There is a lot of satisfaction from seeing their excitement as their project comes together.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three most important qualities, skills or areas of knowledge to pursue your dream, art or passion to me would have to be initially taking the risk.

1. Take risks, take that first chance, it will be worth it. Nothing makes me sadder than when I meet people at market events and they say something to the effect of, “I’ve always wanted to learn how to sew, but…” “I’ve always wanted to learn how to paint, but…” “I’ve always wanted to learn how to hand quilt, but…” When they see my quilts made from non-traditional textiles like paper bags, they can’t believe I sewed them on my machine. I tell them I was curious and wondered if It could be done; now I know the answer is Yes!

2. Gain the knowledge to find out more about what you love. I have watched so many YouTube videos to learn how to use my long arm machine. I’ve attended workshops, and seminars to learn about different quilting techniques. I’ve put myself out there and taught classes as well. Gaining knowledge is a life-long pursuit, it never ends. We are always learning and should be.

3. If you don’t have the skills needed to pursue your dreams, find a way to learn these skills. Call around to local quilt shops for classes on sewing and quilting. Check out local pottery shops to learn about clay work. Call a dance studio to see if they have beginner classes, whatever your dream or passion is today is the day to take the chance and pursue it. Small steps lead to big accomplishments, but only if you take the risk and try.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

I was raised by a single mother on welfare. Growing up we faced homelessness, drugs, and many other hardships, through all of it my mother would always say it could be worse. No matter how tough things were for her and her children, my mother always kept a positive attitude. My mother worked odd jobs in the summer when I was out of school, and I was left to raise and feed my younger brothers and keep them from getting hurt. I didn’t mind because I loved my brothers and we were close and had many adventures together. My mother’s unrelenting positivity was passed on to her children, and we never accepted what was, but what could be.
I’ve strived to instill in my own children the desire to take risks, go for what they want, and never ever quit working and reaching for something you have a passion about. You control your own life, no one else, and if you’re not happy with something, make the changes necessary to make a better life for yourself.

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