Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters-Rosa Martinez and Patricia Martinez

Rosa (Rose) and Patricia Martinez – our sisters -  are always together. They grew up in Lima Peru. Rosa and her husband came first then Patricia and her spouse moved to the US. Both women lost their husbands in 1995, six months apart. That was such a difficult year. Our sisters had a hard time adapting to living alone. They are so thankful they had each other.

Patricia wanted to be a teacher when she was a young girl. Her mother thought she was weird for teaching to empty chairs on the patio. Too cute! Rosa is elder by 11 years.  Rose is the oldest of four and Patricia is the youngest.  They have one other sister, Miriam,  – who is currently visiting from Peru.

They began quilting four year ago in Kathy Honeycutt’s class. They took baby beginner’s on Thursday and then moved to Monday. Patricia said it was a privilege to lean from Kathy – it gave them both a great start. 

Rosa doesn’t remember what she wanted to be when she grew up but was a great student. She loved to sew when she was young. She bought fabric at the supermarket and made clothes by hand.

Rosa has seven children, two of whom live in California. The other five children are in Lima Peru. All are married and currently she has 20 grandchildren, but today one more girl is joining the family. Her son’s wife is in the hospital as we speak scheduled for a C-Section.

Patricia has four children, and one grandson. Only her daughter is married. Edin is five years old and he was one year old when Alejandra and Camebmon adopted him from Guatemala. Let’s just say grandmother is thrilled!

Rosa and Patricia are property managers for the same company and live one block away from each other. Rosa goes to visit Patricia in her pajamas every Sunday and it is a special day…no work and obviously no adult clothes. They do visit every other day too but they wear clothes those days.

Patricia never wanted to sew but Rosa kept insisting she join her at quilt class. One day Rosa brought sister to Kathy’s class. She secretly paid the tuition and showed up at Patricia’s house to bring her to San Lorenzo Adult School.   Patricia was astounded by the beautiful things that were shared. From that day, she began sewing EVERY DAY~

I love seeing these girls together and envy their close sisterhood. Thank you for sharing your story with me.

Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters Judy Clavin

Judy Clavin has been a quilter - starting with Sandi Geaheart and Juanita Jones -28 years ago. They began taking classes at San Lorenzo Adult School with Linda Cummin and Kathy Honeycutt was one of their fellow students.  Kathy was a very good friend of Judy’s. Shortly after Kathy broke her ankle, Judy fell coming out of church and broke both her ankles. Kathy was there for Judy then and again when Judy lost her sister.

After her son started school, Judy needed SOMETHING to do so she went to San Lorenzo Adult School to find her passion. She has made at least 40 quilts (including baby quilts and lap quilts). She gave most of them away to family.

Besides quilting her loves are hand embroidery, knitting and crocheting and playing the slot machines! She makes frequent trips to Jackson Rancheria. Football (Raiders) and A’s baseball float her boat.  She also loves to read!

Sabina Hill told Pam Gerow, who told Judy about Pieced Together Quilters. It was so sad after Kathy passed away and hard to bond at San Lorenzo Adult School, so finding our club was a God-Send.

Married 39 years having found her true love when she was 30 years old! Not a lady to rush into anything. She traveled all through her 20s and finally fond time to settle down. They have a girl and a boy and only two grandchildren. Her grandson is 14 and the granddaughter is six. Judy gets to baby-sit Maya every day after school

A little know fact about Judy is – O MY GOD – We just had an earthquake. Judy – settle down. It didn’t even move the table! Her little know fact is Judy is petrified of earthquakes.  You’d think she’d be used to it earthquakes being born and raised in Oakland.

Judy has a long history of being friends with quilters from San Lorenzo Adult School – she has the historic memory of all that Kathy did. Thanks for sharing this information Judy.

Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters - Loretta Phillips

Loretta Phillips doesn’t know how long she’s been quilting, but it must be at least 20 years. She had always sewed and taught across the playground from Kathy Honeycutt and Linda Cumming so decided to join the fun!  She took baby beginner class in 1975 from Linda Cumming.  She still has her sampler quilt – not completely finished.  Her granddaughter has a messy room so doesn’t get the quilt until her bedroom is in shape to appreciate the quilt.  One summer when she had nothing to do, she made nine baby quilts for a great grand baby and her granddaughter had her pick of quilts when the wee one was born. Loretta is very organized!  After I showed her a picture of my sewing room she thinks I’d croak if I saw her sewing room – it is so neat and put away.  All her fabric is in binds and color coded.

Married 57 years to her high school sweetheart, Doug, they have two daughters, five grandchildren and one great grandson. The great grandson has lots of quilts!  Loretta grew up in Oakland and now has lived 50 years in Castro Valley.

Other that quilting, her teaching certification is in sewing, knitting and crocheting. She taught at San Lorenzo Adult School for 21 years and retired 15 years ago. So, Loretta still knits and crochets every day. It also gave her a great chance to get to know all of the San Lorenzo Adult School students. 

Cooking is not one of her hobbies, she cooks only to eat. She reads all kinds of  books. Her favorite activity is camping. She and Doug camped in Alaska for 22 summers. She knows how to catch and cook salmon. (She also knows how to freeze, smoke and can salmon too).

She has a real soft spot for animals and is wearing a gecko charm on her necklace, loon earrings and loon markings on her socks.  In Alaska the loons are in salt water and they are huge!  She has two cats, Candy and Baby. Candy is a calico and Baby is sand colored Domestic Short Haired and Candy is a wicked sister who beats up little Baby daily. Baby is now almost five year old.

Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters - Pat Bailey

Pat Bailey has been quilting for about ten years.  She first wanted to quilt for her son’s school as a fund raiser. All the kids in the class made a block and Pat quilted the project and it was raffled off.  In about 1997 a friend signed her up for an all night quilting class at Hancock Fabrics. She thought her friend was insane – ALL NIGHT! They made a bargello heart quilt.  She stayed all night and had a great time!  So great in fact that she joined  Kathy’s class on Thursday night but never took baby beginners.  Kathy never made her attend – REALLY!

Pat estimates she has made in the neighborhood of 75 quilts. She gives lots away but really never kept track of all her quilting. She makes at least six quilts a year for children’s organizations.  She is a member of African American Quilt Guild in Oakland and has a quilt in the Cinema Place Gallery in Hayward.  She has had her quilts in several galleries – one in Sacramento and one in Richmond called “40 Acres”. 

She worked at the de Young Museum during the Gee’s Bend exhibit.  She was able to meet the wonderful quilters from the show and even met a contributor to the “I Have A Dream” speech. 

Pat has two wonderful children Nicholas, who passed two years ago - a victim of senseless violence.  They donated Nicholas’ organs, saving four lives.  Such a wonderful sacrifice. Her daughter Kristen, has a full scholarship to Howard University in Washington DC, studying pre-med.  She is a freshman so this is her first time away from Mom! She loves it and is doing great. She’ll be home for the Christmas holidays making mommy very happy!

Pat grew up in Wewahitchka Florida, near the peninsula. She left at 17 right after high school to stay with her brother in Los Angeles. Her former spouse was a computer consultant so they moved to the Bay Area. She now lives in Hayward – all alone, just waiting for a grandchild!

A little know fact about Pat is was a cheerleader and jazz dancer for the school band and she was a homecoming princess. Our sweet Pat is such an outgoing girl – never meeting a stranger.

Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters - Dorothy Wadsworth

Dorothy Wadsworth has always sewed, making clothes for her family, was a dressmaker and was a tailor. During the war she worked at Hamilton Field and was assigned to tailor uniforms for the service members. She lived on base and ate in the mess hall. They found out she liked spinach so the mess cooks loaded her tray - mile high - with spinach. Also, at Hamilton she delivered mail On A Motorcycle!

Dorothy also painted and sold her paintings in Castro Valley. Additionally, she painted signs on cars and business windows. She finally began quilting with Linda Cumming in the last 1980s. Dorothy taught decorative painting for the seniors at Hayward Adult School and oil painting in Alameda. She won second place in coloring in second grade and was featured in the local paper. She even did upholstery and furniture refinishing. Our Dorothy is just a Renaissance woman!

Kathy Honeycutt was also one of her teachers and Dorothy learned a lot from her. Linda Cumming and Dorothy took quilting lessons at Daughtry's in Castro Valley together, but didn't remember that until the shared notes.

Married 61 years, Dorothy lost her husband last spring and is still having a difficult time without him. We all remember her loss. They have four boys and 11 grandchildren. Dorothy is blessed to have four great-grandchildren. It might be more...! Dorothy admits to having Senior Moments! Well at 87 years young it happens.

Born in Annapolis MD - her dad was in the Navy, where they moved to Los Angeles then to Vallejo where she went to school through high school. In the second half of the 12th grade she went to Long Beach to stay with her grandmother.

A little know fact about Dorothy is she was a Cub Scout Leader and made the boys sew on buttons and make tea towels. She also learned to swim in the ocean when she was five and when she was a Girl Scout she learned life saving.

Who’s Who in Pieced Together Quilters - Milinda Mayfield

Milinda Mayfield has been quilting since 2004. Her mother, Lizzie, needed to have a kidney removed, so, Milinda required a challenge to divert her attention. Thankfully, her mom is doing great and thinks every quilt Milinda makes with a butterfly belongs to her.

Not married – no children and all her animals are stuffed! She does have lots of nieces and nephews that she enjoys spoiling then sending home. Milinda loves her purple house and her purple studio where she sews for all the family and friends.

Quilting since 2007, in Kathy Honeycutt’s Thursday evening class, she moved to Pieced Together Quilters with her class-mates. Pat Bailey was the sweet quilter who brought Milinda to us.

Other than quilting, cycling for charity and skiing and gardening are her hobbies. She grows vegetables, having just harvested 12 ears of corn, tomatoes, green beans, green peppers and turnip greens.  Milinda loves to cook, but doesn’t collect cookbooks. She says she cooks better than her mom just getting recipes from the internet and friends.

She works for Cisco Systems so she doesn’t have as much time to PLAY as she would like, so most of her time is spent quilting and tending the garden.

Milinda is a California girl born and raised.  She was born in Fresno, grew up in Oakland and now lives in Hayward – in the purple house. A world traveler, Australia in the summer is heaven.  However, no matter where she goes, there is no place like home!

Our cute Milinda was the California Spelling Bee champion in Junior High School, competing in the State Capitol. She finished third in the state. What an accomplishment. I can barely spell Barbara.