Grete Greenshpon

Country

Germany

Sewing Favorite

Modern patchwork, free hand quilting, home dec, bags

Job

Patchwork shop owner

Just to make that clear right from the get-go: if a potential daughter in law would show up for Sunday dinner at our house and this would be her biography, I'd probably take my son aside and ask him to reconsider. But it is what it is - and mine looks like this. Born in Aachen, Germany (so far so good), married at age 16 for the first time, first child at age 17 (daughter no. 1), second child at age 21 (daughter no. 2) - earned my money as a waitress, cleaning houses, selling hot-dogs, soldering metal springs and singing in hotel bars. At some point I decided - okay, that's not the way to go on - so I went to college - then worked in the export department of a gear manufacturer for several years.
Divorced at age 30 and then met my current husband - an Israeli and moved to Haifa, Israel. That's where daughter no. 3, son no. 1 and daughter no. 4 were born. Worked as administration manager for an American high tech company and quit that job to write a book.
In 2001, my family and I moved to Germany, where I continued to write, paint, garden and sew.
At some point I discovered: this is it. Sewing will not leave me bored with the whole subject after a couple of years- there is always something new to discover - new fabrics, new patterns, new methods, new tools, new sewing machines.
So all in all - sewing allows me to combine my excitement for new things with my tendency to babble on and on about it in writing.
In Summer 2010 we converted the old chicken coop next to our house into a quilt shop and ever since I am permitted to buy new fabrics to my hearts content while being able to claim that it is a sound business decision. Plus - I am meeting people with the same addiction on a daily basis. What more can a girl ask for?