My family has been quilting and traveling for generations. Where to start….
My great great grandmother was a quilter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. My grandmother Ruby Crittenden met my grandfather Walter Adamsen. They married and moved to Havre, Montana. Growing up I spent quite a bit of time with my grandmother petting her fabrics and wishing I could make the beautiful quilts that she made. She went through many phases including a Log Cabin phase. One of my fondest memories is attending the Paducah quilt show with my grandmother and taking a class with her. I was a beginner sewer as well as quilter. The only sewing I had really done was via home economics in school. I remember we took a Trip Around the World class (that project is in a box somewhere) and walked the show floor. I remember the moment when my grandmother realized that her quilts were as good or better than most of the quilts being shown. From that time forward, she began entering her quilts in shows in Montana. I was thrilled to get a hand pieced and quilted grandmother garden quilt from her a few years later. It was (and still is) fascinating to really study the quilt. There is definitely scraps used for all thoses hexies and she used multiple colors of thread to quilt it. I am pretty sure it was made with cardboard templates. Rotary cutting was just starting as a fad. As a family, we used to receive a box from grandmother every Christmas. We were always excited to see what she had made us. I have no idea how she worked and managed to make all seven children, twenty plus grandchildren, and numerous great-grandchildren a quilt or quilted item every Christmas. An amazing woman that I am still trying to live up to.
Personally I love to applique as well as piece quilts. I machine quilt my own quilts. I do not prewash or starch my fabric. I love precuts. I only own three regular sewing machines, two embroidery/quilting machines, and one long arm quilting machines (which I purchased 2021 – Gammill Elevate 26. My grandson has his own sewing machines as does my granddaughter. My last purchase was the Tula Pink Bernina 770.
Today I live in San Jose, California. In my spare time I quilt and travel. I have had some great adventures doing both. As of yet, I haven’t got to keep one quilt I have made. They have gone to someone in my circle of family, friends, or charity. Some day, I will have a quilt that I made, but at least I have all the ones my grandmother made me.
In 2017, I traveled quite extensively for work, for me, and for my grandson’s hockey. Some places I have visited over the years are New Zealand, Australia, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales and have hit 34 out of 50 states to date.
2018 was a light travel year with visiting family in New York and Philadelphia and a few short vacations to Cabo San Lucas and Hawaii.
In 2019 we visited Niagra Falls Ontario Canada, Salt Lake City UT, San Diego CA, several trips to Halifa Nova Scotia Canada, Denver CO, Las Vegas NV, and Orlando FL
2020 has been crazy with the Covid 19 pandemic. Travel has been severely restricted to only San Diego CA and Jupiter FL. The company that I have been CFO of for the past 15 years sold 2 days before the first Shelter in Place order – March 11th. I was on a consulting agreement to help with transistioning the company until March 2021. Meanwhile, I am helping the prior owner with his new business. Theoritically I am semi-retired but it sure doesn’t seem like it. Although I am getting to work on more quilting projects and began cross stitching after 25 years. Russ my oldest cat, passed away in the first weekend of the Covid when all vets were closed.
2021 was an interesting year with Covid still going full on. Travel loosened up a little. I wrapped up my consulting agreement and also wrapped up with my old boss in Florida and official retired November 2021. During 2021, I had some fantastic trips with 6 weeks on the road in July-August first with my sister Dorothy and then with my daughter Caitlin and Jannes (her boyfriend) going from West Coast to East Coast. Squeezed in a train trip with my brother Scott and his wife Victoria seeing three different Utah National Parks then travelling from Moab, UT to Denver, CO on Rocky Mountaineer. To end 2021, Shaun and I flew to Seattle for our first Thanksgiving with Caitlin in 5 years. We drove back in December for a week of skiing and Christmas. Washington had a huge snow storm the last week of 2021 so I was thankful to have driven my truck.
2022 found me doing a lot of trips. We have had our normal hockey trips to So Cal which have included Valencia and Simi Valley this year. We had tournaments in Valencia and Chicago. In January I drove home from Seattle with snow on the roads through most of California, Oregon, and Nor Cal. For Spring Break this year, I decided I needed to have some beach time so we went to Kauai, HI with Caitlin and Shaun. I had hoped to make it to Florida during 2022 but the timing never worked out. Instead, I went camping in Olympic National Park with Shaun, Caitlin, and Jannes in June. It was a great week with unbelievable weather. For my birthday in August, I took another road trip to Seattle with stops at Lassen National Park, Corvallis OR to see my brother and his family, Portland OR to see my nephew Ian, Mt Rainier National Park and finally to Seattle to see Caitlin once again before heading back home. In July I went to a Gammill Retreat in Snowbird, UT which was a great learning experience as well as just plain fun. Then I did another retreat in Modesto CA in October with Kathy from Hands On Design. Awesome learning experience. If you ever get a chance, do it.
2023 has found me at home more than in the past few years. Shaun’s Mom took him to most of the hockey tournaments in the fall of 2023 but in the first quarter of 2023, I was on the road a lot for hockey including a trip to Minneapolis in January which was absolutely a blast even though it was almost zero degrees. I also took a trip to Nevada in June with my quilty friends to attend the Reno Quilt Show and to shop. Fun was had by all. To wrap up 2023, I flew in to Seattle and then road tripped to Whistler, British Columbia for the holdiays.
As for family, I have a son Steven (36) who has two children, Shaun (16) and Grace (12), and a daughter Caitlin (29). Steven and Shaun live in San Jose while Caitlin is currently living in Seattle, WA after being awarded her Masters degree in Oceanography from Dalhousie University in 2021 and Grace lives with her mom in Santa Cruz, CA. I have three cats, Cali (short for California Girl) and a pair of ginger kittens – Nala and Simba. I have one brother Scott, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife Victoria, and three sisters. My sister Cheryl lives with her family in North Wales, PA (outside of Philadelphia). My sister Dorothy lives with her family in Modesto, CA and my sister Teresa lives in Kansas with her girlfriend and youngest son. We stretch from coast to coast and present many opportunities for travel.