Millie Johnson
Sewing has been a big part of my life. I attribute this to my Japanese mother who was a tailor and seamstress and taught me to sew at a young age. Sewing then was doll clothes. But from 1963 to1966 my world changed. My father was given new orders and my family moved from Virginia Beach to Germany. As a teenager, without my friends, I began to sew once again. I made my own clothes; copying images from fashion magazines and clothes modeled by Twiggy. Also during this time, I joined a Hawaiian dance troupe and learned to hula.
In1978, I married my handsome Navy pilot husband and moved to Texas and there I took professional sewing classes. I made suits/evening clothes and other wearables for myself. When we returned to Virginia Beach in 1980, I experienced the second sewing change in my life when I met my new neighbor and friend, Sue Vogel. Sue flew as a WWII WAC nurse, caring for injured servicemen on the Medivacs from Japan to Hawaii. While stationed in Hawaii she learned the Art of Hawaiian Appliqué, a technique which she taught to me along with traditional quilting. Sue and I made many Hawaiian quilts and pillowcases over the years. Sue also introduced me to batik fabric which I now use in most of my work. Sue Vogel and I continued to make Hawaiian quilts until she was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in 2020.
Later, after much prompting from my husband to “make him a quilt”; I created “Aquarius.” I have lived most of my life by the ocean. So naturally, my love for the ocean and sea life became the inspiration in creating13 sea life/coastal designs sewn in the Hawaiian appliqué technique. Nine of these designs comprise my husband’s quilt entitled “Aquarius”. And proudly, this quilt received a first place blue ribbon at the 2023 State Fair of Virginia.
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