I am tired of people thinking that quilting is for little old ladies. I am tired of people thinking that quilters have no other interests, are physically unfit or that we are boring.
Today's post should be shared with ALL your friends/family who think that way. I think they are in for a surprise!!!!!
I belong to an on-line group and some of this information came from the group members and other information came from people that I know personally.
Sit back and enjoy.
What do we do for work.................
Kelley is 46 and just starting to quilt. She's a bookkeeper.
Patricia is 72 years old. Her occupation? Anglican priest.
Kayla is a 27 year old mother of two. Used to work in EMS and now runs her own company selling cloth diapers.
Marie is 53 ( a grandmother!). Her career? She is an underground locator. I know - what the heck is that???? She looks for and marks underground utilities like cable, telephone, TV, etc. for construction companies and is the ONLY female doing this job where she works. This QUILTER has 16 tattoos!
Eva is a cartographer/Civil Designer - currently designing roads and bridges!!!! (I wonder if she incoporates some of those designs into a quilt????
Laurie owned a chocolate making business (past tense! - we need her!!!)
Penny is 54 and manages properties. Ah - the one to call when the toilet gets backed up! She also plays pickleball. I know - I had to ask as I had never heard of it. Check out the link for a video. It's a cross between tennis, racquetball played on a badminton sized court with a wiffle ball. Wow!!!!
Jo is a journeyman electrician and worked in a zoo for many years.
Maureen is a Mechanical Draftsman, recently retired after 40 years in Alberta's Oil and Gas Industry.
Valorie has worked as a sheep shearer, penchecker/cowboy, on land survey crews and she's been a long haul trucker. And can you believe that she delivered 2 of her kids at home with no help. Yikes!
Brenda is now retired now from a 32 year career in the oil sands and drove heavy hauler for a year -- 400 tones that is!
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| Heavy Hauler!!!! - you could put a LOT of fabric in the back of that truck! |
Monique has worked in local government for over 30 years.
Jayme is a 29, mother of three sons under 5 and operated a ranch with a range over 25 square miles, over 100 animals and quilt at night to relax, and have been a foster parent to 8 kids
Karen was the first female Fire Warden in the Chilcotin Fire District in BC back in the 70's, ran a fire crew of up to 20 men, drove school bus, ranch hand, range rider, dyed yarn, designed sweaters, owned a bridal shop, legal secretary, grow garlic now and design/ make handbags/purses/totes and miniature quilts. Married 51 yrs no kids. Have had the best life ever.
Tracy is a respiratory therapist and owns her own home care company, treating obstructive sleep apnea, here in the cariboo.
Mary-anne spent 23 years in the Canadian Military
Lynn was a trucker and a certified air-brakes instructor...; now she is a house/farm/pet sitter
J'nell is a police sergeant with the RCMP. Supervising 12 officers. Investigated numerous highway deaths and 2 homicides just last year alone.
Quite a varied list of careers!!!!!
So that is a pretty varied list of careers. But ..................
What do we do for fun?????????????
Dana rode in the first ever BMW GS Challenge in Western Canada in 2010. Off road motorcycling is another hobby as well as quilting.
Cindy has bungy jumped, rode horses, ran marathons and her background is investment and insurance regulatory compliance.
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| Ah - I don't think so!!!! |
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| Cindy |
Rosanna also rides motorcycles, Hers is a ducati monster 800, She plans on collecting some rows on her way to the national bmw rally in Montana. She also likes to fly a stuntkite.
Ann is a retired teacher. She has been a single parent for the past 35 years. She has 3 girls and 9 grandkids and trains German Shepherd Dogs in obedience and a German dog sport called Schutzhund.
Janet is the mother of 4, 2 stepkids, 9 grandkids and another on the way. She worked full time for the phone company for 21 years. They camp, garden, hot air balloon crew, ran her own home based business and babysat kids during the day and quilted to relax.
Julie is a part-time teacher and mother to a 5 & 15 years old. They bike/swim and travel together. Lots of gray hair starting to show but far from being the typical perception.
Jo-Anne was an equestrian rider.
Katy has run a marathon. Last year she led a group of 11 paddlers around Bowron Lakes.
Sandy's other hobby is scuba diving...! Preferably in the Caribbean when it is cold back home in Canada !
Heather is a former Gov of Canada employee, a former 2-time mayor, and a consultant who likes to deliver local quilt orders on her motorcycle (at least in summer, when it's not -50).
Judy has recently retired (semi) from her husband's tree trimming and removal company. She is a certified arborist and did the sales and scheduling for the company.
Leah is a pilot, a glider pilot, 13 years working as an instructor with Air Cadets (Canadian Military), an electrical engineer (high tech semiconductor design). She has 3 kids and is now a girl guide leader.....
She has run a number of half marathons and plans to start training again after this heat wave ends!Not grey haired....
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| Photo Credits: Comox Cadet Flying Training Centre. |
Jan participated in a TOUGH MUDDER competition. Yes that is Jan in the lime green shirt with her once WHITE socks. NOT!!!!!
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| Jan after the TOUGH MUDDER |
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| Susan |
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| Alma on the edge of the CN Tower |
I rode a bicycle across Canada. I've also went from Vancouver to Inuvik which is considerably north of the Arctic Circle!
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| Michel, ME, Neil on our 10 week trip across Canada in 2013 |
Now here is a bit of a wild card. As I was doing some research, I have noticed that there are a lot of quilters with tattoos. What kind of tattoos????? All kinds. Have a look. And many people have MULTIPLE tattoos.
Tattoos have traditionally been associated with biker gangs, but thankfully that impression is changing. Tattoos are a form of expression and us quilters are very expressive.
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| Jeri |
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| Jeri |
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| Jeri |
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| Jeri |
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| Jeri |
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| Nikki |
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| Shelley |
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| Shelley |
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| Shelley |
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| Yvonne |
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| Yvonne |
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| Yvonne |
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| Yvonne |
This is Andree. She sent me a picture of her quilting - hand stitching no less. But she has a LOT of tatttoos on her arms.
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| Andree |
And let's not forget Ronda. She has a small tattoo on her wrist.
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| Ronda |
There you have it - quilters are a very diverse group of people. We come from all backgrounds, we have all kinds of careers, we do all kinds of wild and wacky things for entertainment and we like to express our creativity on our bodies!
Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A big thanks to all those who agreed to have their pictures or story posted on the blog this morning. I was hoping to dress it up with more photos, but no time for that!!!
A big thanks to all those who agreed to have their pictures or story posted on the blog this morning. I was hoping to dress it up with more photos, but no time for that!!!
we are a fun lot!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I quilt and have a tattoo also!
ReplyDelete