Layne (Guss) Rahbar
Marina, CA

Update for 55th reunion – After graduating from ISU in Applied Art, I married Fred (Faramarz) Rahbar who I met at ISU. Fred is a construction project manager and his work took us to California, Maryland, Texas, Greece, and Saudi Arabia, where we spent 14 years. Retirement brought us to the San Francisco area and more recently to the Monterey, CA area where we have a smaller yard, and only one cat to care for. The beach is only 5 miles away, but this is northern California, so we’re talking 60 deg and foggy. Sometimes going to the beach means sitting in the car watching the waves with our coffee and avocado toast we got at our favorite nearby coffee shop.

We have 2 daughters and 3 sons with a combined 6 grandchildren. They live in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas, California and Vancouver, Canada. That keeps us traveling to visit them as often as we can. I don’t have much family in Iowa anymore so we don’t get there very often.

I was pretty much a stay at home mom with 5 kids, but I have always been a textile artist on the side. I had a floor loom and wove blankets and rugs. I make baskets. I have made a couple hundred quilts and have shown some in big quilt shows. I have been an active member of quilt guilds and art groups wherever I lived and taught classes.

Fred still works as a consultant mostly at home, but still makes business trips. He used to travel a lot and worked in London, Rome, Milan, and Seoul for several months at a time. I would join him for a week or so but I would have to visit all the museums, etc. by myself while he worked.

The quilts–More than 40 years worth, some were sold, many were donated, many more were given to family and friends. Many remain in my house, on the beds and walls and stacked in a couple of bookcases. Several are in the closet waiting to be finished, and there is always one I’m working on at the sewing machine. I have shown quilts in quilt guild shows that I’ve been a member of in Dublin, Pleasanton, and Carmel, CA. Also in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and I’ve shown several at the Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara, CA .The Koi quilt was at the PIQS in 2021. I don’t have a loom anymore, but I weave baskets which I find are instant gratification compared to the time it takes to make a quilt or weave a blanket.

From 50+1 reunion – A lot has happened in the last 50 years. I graduated from ISU with an Applied Art degree in Interior Design. In 1975 I married Faramarz Fred Rahbar who I had met at ISU. We followed his Construction Engineering jobs to live in California, Maryland, Texas, Greece, and Saudi Arabia, where we spent 14 years, and now we are retired in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I spend much of my time quilting which has been a passion for 40 years. We have a large property which requires a lot of yard work and gardening, as well as taking care of a dog, a cat, 3 koi ponds, pigeons and a couple of chickens. We have 2 daughters and 3 sons with a combined 6 grandchildren. They live in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas, California and New York. That keeps us traveling to visit them as often as we can. I don’t have much family in Iowa anymore so don’t get there very often.

Layne