PEOPL3 AR3 PEOPL3 is dedicated to my creative and inspirational Grandmothers;

My Great Great Grandmother Maria Luisa Villalobos-Barba was born in a town called Lerdo, in Durango State, Mexico in 1901. She immigrated to a desert town called Needles in California in abt 1914 as her husband Eugenio Villalobos had been recruited by the California Railroads. My grandmother Josephine "Josie" Villalobos-Flores was born in Needles in 1916. The family was small for awhile, but eventually they had 9 children! Maria decided to learn to sew at a local Community College and was able to sew clothing for her family which lightened the financial load. The family lived near the railroad roundhouses in Needles, Fresno, and eventually Los Angeles. In LA my Grandmother Josie finished High School and got married. She lived near and worked in the “Garment District” in a “Clothing Plant” which back then was basically a sweat shop. She had to work two jobs to support her family. My Grandma Josie inspired me from the time I was a young child, I remember her sweet smile and beautiful energy, she was tiny, but so strong! I remember walking into her house and seeing her sewing room and sewing machine and mannequin and always thought everything she made was so cool. I wanted to do that! She also was a talented painter. I don’t know where she learned but she was good! Eventually she got a job that paid her well at an Aviaition Company, and she also used her skills as a side hussle. My Grandma Christine Flores was born in East LA (where most of my family resides to this day) in 1939, she followed her mother and worked for another Aviation Company and had a side hussle that she really loved. She made beauiful intricate china dolls from scratch. She painted their dainty little faces and sewed their little outfits. 

My Grandma Iris Broughton Appleby was born in a small village beside the river Wey in Surrey, England in 1934. When she was twenty years old and newly married, she boarded the S.S. New York bound for Canada where her new husband, (my Grandfather) had  a job offer with an Aeronautics Company. A few years later after this company folded, they got in a VW Bug with a few other Brits crammed in and set out for California where the men were told they would be hired by the growing Avaiation/Aeronatics/ and Space Companies. My Grandparents adopted my beautiful Mom in Long Beach, California in 1963. My Grandma sewed almost all her children’s clothes and some of her own. My Grandma Iris has taught me to sew, knit, embroider and other creative things. She and my Auntie even embroidered the back of my wedding dress.

I have many creative family members, but I can’t write a book here although I would love to!