She quilted for her kids, without knowing how. Her aunt left her a “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” quilt and made her a Sunbonnet Sue baby quilt. She was in 4-H and always sewed – making her clothes from feed sacks. Joann grew up on a farm and the chicken and cow feed came in beautiful fabrics. All the reproductions aren’t half as pretty to Joann.
She grew up in Michigan – in the thumb of the mitten in a town call Capac. Coming from hardy German stock, at 18 she went to college in Illinois and found her first husband there. After graduating she was a teacher and she and her husband moved to Arizona. He broke her heart and found a new love but she did have two beautiful boys. She moved to California and worked everywhere to make a living. Finally, she got a special certificate in reading at Cal State Hayward and began teaching English at James Logan High School.
Now she has four grandchildren – two of each – ranging in age from 10 to 23.
At the California Literature Project, she met a Hayward quilter who told her about Kathy’s class. So in 1988 she joined San Lorenzo Adult School with Kathy. I can’t imagine having so much time quilting with Kathy. What a blessing.
Diana Johnson – Joann’s personal quilter – told her about Pieced Together Quilters and she quickly found a new home.
Some of her other hobbies are reading mysteries but her Rheumatoid Arthritis is so severe, she is unable to do any hand work even using the machine to sew on binding. Fortunately, she can machine piece.
A little known fact about Joann is she wanted to be a nurse but soon found out she’d have to “toe the line” for doctors, so she quickly switched to education. She taught 35 years and influenced scores of children to read and enjoy all there is to discover in books.
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