The aim of the staff at Las Colchas is to be of service to you.

Our list of employees includes:

Francine Pons
Francine Pons, co-owner of Las Colchas Quilt shop, has had a love affair with fabrics and textures since she was a little girl. Her first attempts at sewing were prompted by her desire to dress her small china doll from the Five and Dime store in a stylish wardrobe. That was the quiet beginning of her sewing and designing journey and what led to the shop we all enjoy today. It has been 25 years since she and Toni Reyna threw caution to the wind and, with little more than a wish and a prayer, opened Las Colchas.

Happily for us, Francine has been blessed with an intuitive sense of color, style and design. The warm and welcoming (homey) feeling of Las Colchas is a direct expression of this talent. The many beautiful and imaginative combinations of pattern and color found in our numerous displays throughout the shop are largely due to her efforts.

Francine has recently retired from the San Antonio Independent School District, after a distinquished career in Speech Pathology. She is now able to devote her time and energies fully to the work of her heart, to the delight of all of us who benefit from those talents.

Irene Nikolewski
Irene retired after a 25 year career in retail management and found her "perfect job" here at Las Colchas 6 years ago. She is our "Traveling Quilter" who is usually here on Fridays. If you find her missing on any given Friday, you can safely assume that she is in another state sightseeing, visiting family and checking out local quilt shops. She has a good color sense and enjoys helping customers in fabric selection. Her own "stash" is extensive, as she cannot resist "just one more" beautiful textile. Always equipped with a joke or a story, her warm and outgoing personality has been an asset our shop.

Jeanne Strottner
Jeanne credits her mother with instilling in her the love of sewing. At an early age, she started making doll clothes from the scraps left over from her own clothing. From there, the seed was planted and her interest and passion for all fiber-related things has never waned. Through the years, she has explored a variety of techniques; from her own clothing, men's wear, home décor, quilting and upholstering. She would real like to tackle the lost art of tatting next.

Maria Connolly
Maria took her first basic quilting class at Hill Country Quilts in 1985. She began part time work at Las Colchas in the fall of 1990, where she learned everything she needed to know about quilting.Maria's favorite quilting technique is hand applique, along with Crazy quilting, embroidery work and silk ribbon embroidery.

Olivia Arispe
Olivia has lived in San Antonio for the past 52 years. She is married to Joe and has four sons and seven grandchildren. Her hobbies include cake decorating, arts and crafts, and quilting. She has worked at Las Colchas for three years, which has enhanced her quilting skills. She has also learned to work with wool fabrics, needle turn applique and hand embroidery.

Nora Kelly
Nora has been quilting for the last 10 years. She learned how to quilt in Misawa, Japan, where her husband was stationed with the US Air Force. Nora has three children two who are in college and one who is still in high school. Nora really enjoys piecing but also does hand applique. She prefers hand quilting to machine quilting. She teaches beginning classes at Randolph AFB. She also has a group of ladies that she meets with every week. Nora has been with Las Colchas for eight years.

Mary Freeman
Mary has been sewing since she was in elementary school. She started sewing with her local 4-H club, where she learned how to make clothing. She grew up in the San Antonio area, married her husband Bill then toured with world with his US Air Force career. She has two children. Mary took her first quilting class at the Quilting Bee, in Spokane, WA. Then she was hooked. Mary loves all aspects of the quilting world. She loves to piece with machine and by hand. She has also taken up wool applique, embroidery and is learning how to needle turn applique. Mary has been with Las Colchas for 4 years.