In 1971 I went to a Billy Graham campaign in my home town, Chicago. There I saw a sign that said "Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life." That's what I wanted, so I went forward and a lady prayed with me, and I was saved. Not long after that I joined a group of Jesus People who were based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, led by Jim and Sue Palosaari, where they started a Bible school. Many of us were former hippies. After school we would go out to the streets and talk to whomever would listen about Jesus, who had changed our lives. Every week there were more and more people joining our little commune.
After nearly a year we met up with an evangelist and his family, Bill and Sara Lowery, who called their ministry Christ is the Answer. Our group grew so large we divided up and a group of us was sent off to evangelize with the tent, moving from town to town, holding meetings every night and evangelizing by day. We traveled all over the country, preaching salvation to the masses and unity to the Christians. Having again become too many, the Full Gospel Businessmen sponsored a group of us to go to Europe. We bought a new tent, started in Sweden and the group went on from there to other countries. I, however, was left in Sweden to man the base office. It was during that time that I met my husband, Håkan.
Learning to quilt
We married in October, 1975, and soon had our first daughter, Amelia. As an American stay-at-home-mom living in Sweden, I wanted to give my daughter an American/Swedish home, so I had to be creative. I decided to make a quilt. I had no idea what I was doing. The only fabric I had at the time was from worn-out jeans, so that's what I used. I cut out some squares, arranged them in a pattern I vaguely remembered seeing at some time and sewed them together. After that I didn't know what to do, having never met anyone who quilts. So I folded it away in a closet, occasionally taking it out just to shake my head sadly and confirm that it hadn't yet magically turned into a quilt.
Several years and two daughters later I finally met a woman who taught me how to quilt. I had joined the American Women's Club of Gothenburg and Malin was a member. The club had decided to sew a quilt for charity. We were told that anyone who could thread a needle could help, and I joined the quilting bee. Under Malin's direction we sewed a beautiful quilt that brought in lots of money for charity. (See "Churndash" in the Quilt Gallery.) Later, when I saw that Malin was making a quilt of her own I brought out my unfinished attempt and she showed me what to do. So after 14 years I finally finished my first quilt. (See "Trip Around the World" in the Quilt Gallery.)
Since then I have gotten a computer, gone online and learned many things from my quilting sisters (and brothers!) all over the world.
These days, besides spending a lot of time quilting, I am also involved in my church, the American Women's Club and West Coast Trekkers, and I also babysit my grandchildren as much as possible.
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