About Two Quaker Hill

Two Quaker Hill was founded in 2017 by Terry Ann Cunningham, who left a career as an education designer and administrator to pursue the maker life. Her new adventure – Two Quaker Hill – was named after the address of her childhood home, where she spent much of her youth collecting, crafting and creating.  

An art history major in college, Terry was fascinated by the cultural context that influenced the creation of a work of art. As a jewelry designer and maker, she studies the histories of the antique and vintage treasures woven into her work. Her professional career in education drives her to document and share the stories behind her creations with clients as well as anyone willing to listen!

Terry transforms antique and vintage pocket watches, shoe buckles, dress clips, lockets, buttons, cuff links and bracelets into fresh, new jewelry designs made for modern wear. She believes jewelry should not only be beautiful, but interesting and meaningful to the wearer as well. Her materials date from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth century and she is always on the hunt for source material. Soon, her collections will exceed the space she has to store them. Rather than downsize, she vows to work harder to turn her treasures into wearable art so she can make room for more.

Outside her studio, Terry loves to spend time converting the front yard of her Chicago condo building it into a lush perennial paradise (and experimenting with edible landscaping in the hope that it will get her to eat her vegetables). She adores her 14-year-old beagle/lab mix Quinn and speaks to him in full sentences she is convinced he completely understands. When not in Chicago she can be found travelling off the beaten paths in search of new treasures and adventures with her partner-in-crime Eric (often involving the discovery of mammoth statuary).