I have always been crafty and ornery. Life is to short, so my motto is “enjoy it”. I am blessed with an unbelievable family. I am the middle child of four. One older sister, Kim and a younger brother Chip and younger sister Robin. My parents are both from large families, so every time we get together for anything its a mini-family reunion. I think there were 32 attending Thanksgiving this year.

I grew up in the small town of Gallipolis, Ohio. Which is where I met and married my high school sweet heart, Tim Tope. Tim and I have three beautiful daughters, Andrea 24, Erin 14 and Hannah 10. Tim and I also are the proud owners of a graphic design studio, Tope Creative Group. And most of the time we enjoy working together. We live in Worthington, Ohio. We own property in Logan, Ohio that borders Wayne National Forest. Some day we will build our dream house on a hill overlooking an unbelievable valley and large cave.

I started quilting 19 years ago when I was pregnant with our daughter Andrea. Near the end of my pregnancy, I was put on bed rest. Not a good thing for a hyper person like me. My wonderful mother-in-law sent me a box of chintz fabric samples from their furniture store. I had at some time received a Better Homes and Gardens quilt book. My first quilt was a queen size chintz dresden plate which I appliqued onto muslin and quilted to a bed sheet. That quilt took me seven years to complete. I have made quilts for the girls beds and for my siblings. Then, about 10 years ago I discovered Keepsake Quilting. I tried my hand at their Americana Challenge. I couldn’t believe it when I won Second place. So I entered the next one and got an honorable mention. I was hooked. Not because I was winning but because those quilts were my own designs. I experimented and created. They were small enough that it wasn’t a huge commitment to do something a lot different, and applique fed my appetite for creativity. You could put something on, move it, change it, take it off and use it on another project, enlarge it reduce it... you get the picture. I was constantly taking a pattern and giving it the “Teri Tope Twist” I also think that because I was self taught I didn’t have any rules. I didn’t have the quilt police after me. I did and still do, take quilt classes. There is always room for improvement, some new tool to try, some new technique to master.

I am a member of The Quintessential Quilters and The Applique Society of Central Ohio. I am currently on the Board of the Applique Society and The 34th Annual NQA Quilt Show “Flights of Fancy” working for Publicity. I also belong to an amazing little group of quilters who refer to ourselves as “The S & M Quilters” that’s for stitch and munch quilters. Quilting has been my release, my comfort, shared my joy and my sorrow and given me a voice.