Red-Headed quilter here with a home-based business named “Just Hatched Productions” and a studio for wayward stitchers known as STUDIO JHP. Addicted to all things quilting and machine embroidery. I’m a retired Pastor by trade so mix it all up and well...Fabric, friends, faith and family; the topics might wander but you’ll always find me here – one hand on a rotary cutter, the other on the keyboard…
Here in Studio JHP we love searching out excellence in the handmade, upcycled, artisanal world of fiber arts. From hand-painted silk ribbon hailing from Oxford, England, to unique digital art that comes from a small town in Wisconsin, my goal as a teacher is to open my student's eyes to the possibilities of it all! Here is a sampling of what has come into the studio in the past few weeks.
Come on in... the stitchin's fine, the laughter's free and oh MY what you can create! Here is a sampling of the quilts that I have been working on this past winter and spring, along with a few shots of the studio...
Many of you may not know that JHP has a long history of designing church textiles; banners, altar paraments and things of that nature! This banner is a recent commission from a church in Lombard for a new baptismal banner. Many thanks to Vicki Welsh from Etsy for the beautiful custom dyed and painted fabrix that turned out exactly as I needed!
Here are some of my baptismal banner designs along with some of the larger banners I've done for Lutheran Church of the Cross in Arlington Heights, IL.
Well, the big day has come and gone... I had the fun of giving away FOUR birthday eggs!
Rachel found the Just Hatched Productions Egg - It was in the Photo Section - Just Hatched Liturgical Design. Then Rhonda found the next egg - It was the Just Hatched on ETSY... we were tricky there - we converted our logo to the birthday chick! LOL Good eyes, Rhonda!
Egg number three went to Diane up in Northern Wisconsin. She found the "25" egg on the Just Hatched Productions on ARTFIRE! ... right down on the bottom of the page. Last, but certainly not least, Carole's eyes also spotted the logo switch on JHPQuilts on YouTube when she found the "Pamela" Egg!
For those who want to know - and if you tried to use the hits from the "Birthday Tale" - the remaining eggs were hidden...
Hint 4- "Teaching quilting, it's a good life". - Egg in page on upper left "Living the Quilted Life"
Hint 5-"Looking FORWARD to the new year" - Egg hidden with photos of "Facing Forward Quilt on Etsy at Facing Forward - An Art Quilt
Hint 6- Girly world she gets 2 purses... happy graduation, look at this website!Gabs Bags
WHO GETS THE GOODIES?
Rachel, who gets first pick in this one, won round number 1 and got first pick of the presents. Miss Baseball herself, she challenged me to come up with an art quilt. HA! said I.. easy I'll be posting updates as we work or way through the process. It's going to be VERYYYY cool! Baseball, history, Dad.... yep. seriously cool.
Next is Miss Rhonda... Whom I believe is picking a rag quilt from the goodie mix. I'll let you know her choice as soon as I do!
Then there are Diane and Carole, whom I have not gotten in touch with yet. As soon as I know, I will tell you. They sure have some fun things to choose from. I know that Diane is hoping to come down to Chicago for a visit and hopefully work in the studio... I'll bet she's going to take that Studio Time! Carole, Carole... I have no clue! LOL
Again, I want to thank everyone who participated. I received many private emails and birthday wishes... those who posted were so very gracious. I want to thank Gabrielle Ledesma of Gabs Bags (one of our Wise Women Marketplace Vendors) for playing along with us and putting an egg on her Etsy site.
I'll be posting people's choices and their quilts, etc. as they come along, if appropriate. Meanwhile, I would love to hear if you enjoyed our little birthday party and if you would like to see more activities like this on the blog. Remember that your feedback is going to help to make me a more interesting blogger!
I am off to the Doc, then it's back to the studio for quiet work. Prepping Barb's ministry quilts for her tomorrow. Finishing the restoration of Ben's grandmom's quilt for his Mother... all sit down quiet work. I'm getting there! Next week I'll be back to a more normal schedule.... yee haw!
I have some new vendors to add to the Marketplace and photos of the studio... just wait until you see it. Since I've been home from the hospital I have gone thru every corner and every box and crate and not only cleaned but sorted and THREW AWAY oddments and tidbits and old zippers and voila.... wow! Look at how much room there is! LOL
Can't wait for the July Dragonfly class to begin! If you didn't receive the email video before please call me or email me and we'll get the information to you!
I would like to thank Canadian Fibre Artist, Kathy Kinsella, for her inspirational "Dragonfly Dreams" wall art quilt and for her generousity in allowing me to use it as an example for my students. Simply Beautiful.
Well, not Russia...but to a Russian... IN Russia. AND I did it in Russian! Well, I WROTE in Russian... in Cyrillic even! And best of all? Russia wrote back to me! Talk about technology changing our lives! Not a single hour spent agonizing over those nasty past or present tense verbs either! Whoo, hoo... I talked to Russia and she talked to me and it's all thanks to Fee Bee Dee, Dee, Dee!
WISE WOMAN MARKETPLACE
You may have noticed my little "Wise Woman Marketplace" over to the left there... It's full of wonderful women crafters and store owners who's places and products I myself patronize and recommend. ANYHOO... I was planning on talking about it anyway but NOW I'm about ready to jump out of my skin to talk about it! LOL Why? Because today...Have I mentioned it? I TALKED TO RUSSIA!
There is a brand new vendor on the Marketplace - WOOLFELTINGART - It's a little Etsy Shop run by IRINA. I stopped in there a week or so ago and was thrilled to find some great art yarn that I had been searching for for a specific quilt... it was almost perfect for what I needed. I whipped off an email with a photo of what I was planning to do and asked her if she could do something for me. Meanwhile, I started surfing her shop. OH MY GOODNESS! Incredibly cool things were to be found within - really different. I looked at her profile - OH, no wonder they looked so unique - the woman is half a world away in Russia. The next day I got a return email asking for me to be patient as she needed to have a friend interpret for her. No problem ... but then I got to thinking... translate, computer... there had to be a way. GOOGLE! Sure enough. Type "translator" into the Google search box and up it comes! Click on the original language and then click on what language you want it to end up in and then just type away! By the next day we were both using it and Holy Moly... you'd think we went to High School together! No kidding... Russia!
IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS IN JULY...ISN'T IT?
Irina gave me her Russian shop address and let me tell you... I have my Christmas money spent 10 times over already! I'm torn between showing her stuff to all of my friends and "hoarding" her site until after the holidays so that I can buy gifts for those SAME friends FROM that little treasure chest of goodies! What a conundrum! LOL I did finally decide NOT to be a selfish brat and I posted her link on my Facebook page... Good Pamela! Woof!
IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL...
What I still am, however, is absolutely amazed at the power of Etsy and Artfire to bring people together. My journey there started with a lovely artist of whom you've heard me talk about many times. Phoebe Baker. Phoebe has now become a friend and mentor of sorts; always willing to share her hard won knowledge base and talent with me. She is an amazing photographer and digital artist along with printing the most fun and thought provoking fabric art! Before "FeeBeeDee" I simply used fabric from off the bolt! It never occured to me to incorporate anything different. She opened my imagination to a VERY BIG WORLD by giving of herself and also by pointing me in the direction of other creative spirits that she thinks will twist my brain around. Love the tweaking, Feebs.. keep it up! Don't know how I'll ever repay you tho... Those of you reading this - if you are ever looking for a print or greeting cards for "THAT" one person in your life. (you know the one) check out FeeBeeDee's site on the Marketplace - you will be SURE to find the perfect gift. I guarantee it!
After Phoebe I ran smack dab into Vicki Welsh, Fabric guru extraodinaire! She makes the magic happen and her blog is something else. When I grow up I want to be just like Vicki. Nuff Said. Click her Etsy site from the Marketplace, her blog from the Typepad Launch on the right.
UNIQUE...UNSTUFFY
How great is that for a description of a shop? Doesnt' that just make you want to "come in?"... GABS BAGS......... So many of you have commented on that perfect little bag I use when I am using my cane - it came from here! If anyone knows a lovely lady who is, like moi, a "3-legger"... do her a great favor and when it comes to gift giving time? Buy her one of these lovely bags; They don't bang, or fall, or open up and drop stuff all over! It's all in the unique design this brilliant woman came up with...kinda like they were made for this specifically but they weren't! LOL I told Gab if she didn't start marketing these I was going to beat her with my third leg but I would rather not. Tee, hee, hee. Trust me. Check 'em out! And for those who are simply purse-a-holics in their own right - Consider yourselves warned.
SO MANY HERE.... AND YET TO COME!
If you are in the Chicago area - there is Fabrics, Etc. 2 - better known as FE2 - my hangout, my best friend's store - the best quilting and embroidery shop around. Miss Mary - she taught me everything I know. Her - you'll find more out about later...
And there is Rainbow Girl Sarah from England, andthe GoldenOnetoo with her beautiful scarves and Anita with her beautiful fabrics as well, and, and... wonderful women crafters and artists from all over the world... all gathering together on my little blog page.
Blows me away, it does. I encourage each of you to take a peek thru the market when you can. Each of these ladies works hard at what she does; honing her skills and perfecting her techniques. If you can patronize their shops, please do. I would appreciate if you would let them know that you found them here, as well. :-) Ladies, lifting one another up. I like that. Especially when my arms can reach all the way from Rolling Meadows to Russia and find a friend.
From Feebs to Fabric and purses to possibilities....But most of all,
She would have designed this quilt... I'm telling you. She would have! More on this in a bit...
Wow. What a day! Today is the first day since I came home from the hospital that I actually went into the studio to "bring order to chaos". I started out the day with every good intention - make a list of everything that needed doing. House, Self, Studio. STOP LAUGHING! Really... ok, you can giggle - Lord knows that I am! But it NEEDED to do this... list making. I feel a little blown to bits.
THE HOUSE
Let's see - First there was the "House"... can't do a lot there yet without clearance from the doc but hey, I DO have a slew of items that need to be listed on Ebay... and now that I have a (say it with me) "Decent camera" it will be a snap... so it looks like "Photograph and List Items on Ebay" can go on the House list.
What else? Oh, Mr. Ben decided to go thru his closets and now he wants at the storage closet which co-exists peacefully in ...the studio. Love the hubs...not his timing. But as this will result in the storage closet becoming STUDIO property??? IT'S ON THE LIST!
Last, but not least... try to find my clothes again. The daughter and hubs did all of the laundry while I was gone and they were kind enough to put it away. Somewhere. In the house. Pillowcases are ... somewhere. Matching towels? Don't ask. And my ...bras... are AWOL. Scribble, scribble. Search for laundry... ON THE LIST!
CALLING CLAIROL
SELF - one thing and ONE THING ONLY... become a red head again. Nuff' said!
STUDIO JHP
STUDIO - Two customer quilts to get back into the loop, quilt labels to digitize and embroider for all of the spring projects that are ready to be listed, finish the quilting on Ben's grandma's quilt so that it can get shipped, oh and some time needs to be spent surfing for the raw materials for the ideas that I bumped around in my head while I was stuck in aforementioned hospital, new class ideas need to be put together, and LASTLY finish up the photo album work for the blog. ... breathing would be good here.
WHERE would YOU start? Which leads me all the way back to the beginning of this blog entry and Tinkerbell visiting Tokyo.
You see, I was ...alone... in the studio today. Just me and my imagination. :-) The "house" list? Posted on my to do wall for tomorrow. I'll be a redhead as soon as I get out of the shower later tonight. Check that one off. Studio list will be tackled in good order but oh, oh, I was alone in the studio today!
I was alone exercising my imagination. Ooh! Isn't that what quilting is for? (or whatever you happen to do to express yourself?). My imagination got a workout and my ...self... took a very large step towards healing today. I was smart enough to put the "List-y Lists" to the side and do what was really important. Exercise my laugh muscles. Use the little kid that lives inside to see things in a different light and then, praise God, have the courage to stand by what that little girl has to say. Kind of introspective, I know. So what exactly did I do? I named my quilts.
To some, that may sound a bit silly... or not. It is kind of like birthing a biggo problem child when you are finally done! LOL Or a perfect angel of a quilt creation... Click here for a great account of one of those! Tanya's story of creating a Crazy Quilt/Memory Quilt
But for me? The most important part of creating a quilt is the naming of it at the end. Oh sure, they all start with some working title so that we're not doing the "can you move quilt number 7 out of the way please" thing here in the studio! And even if it's just a simple crib blanket... it gets a name. (Now you either think I'm really nutz or you just decided I'm the kind of friend you'd like to get to know better!... I hope it's the latter!)
Today was the day I pulled the whole darned stack off of the rack and had the pleasure of naming them and creating individual embroidered labels for each. What a joy it is going to be as the week progresses to photograph (with the DECENT camera) each piece and post them! All my new kids of the blocks... har, har, har.
There's "Come Together"... a strange little art piece made out of ONE fat quarter, two jelly roll strips and 2 pieces of silk habotai ribbon. Remember that old "Family Circus" cartoon where the mom would tell one of her children to "Come straight home from school" and it would show the convoluted pathway the kid took? Over the neighbor's fence, thru the alley, over the doghouse, around the fountain at the park on the corner 3x, etc? Well, that's what I saw when I looked at this fabric - this sort of pathway thru the roses. I cut it apart, inserted the jellyroll strip, then quilted it with these two ribbons coming down one on each side... to meet in the middle down at the bottom like two folks finally... coming together. I decided to just loosely knot the ribbons and let them hang off the edge of the quilt because well, you never know... The fun part about this quilt is that I inserted a sound chip right over the knot - push it and it plays the Beatle's tune "Come Together"... that funky weird song that took us all forever to learn the words to (if we ever did! LOL). It matches the whole thing... Here come old flattop.... Yeah... come together...
Then I had an idea a few months ago... to make a quilt for people who love spring flower C
OLORS but aren't exactly the "Floral" type. Don't we all know someone like that? I put together this cool strip quilt with green on the bottom, long "flower" stripes in the middle, and blue sky on the top and was determined to call it "You don't bring me flowers!" right from the get go! Well... as I was finishing the quilting process the border stretched out...and out...and out. And the quilt ended up looking so danged fun that it just couldn't have a negative name! Enter the crazy quilter... it just looked like "one heck of a fine day" as my Opa would have said. Hmmm, one fine day.... I wonder? Would it work? Won't know unless I try it... so away we went my new quilting gloves and I and before you know it -that old border was made quick work of! All around that quilt in big and small script is... "One fine day"... tee, hee, hee.
As long as we're on the subject of mighty fine days... I finished "Wrapped in Summer"... a little retro picnic blanket made from scraps from another project. Red and pink and vintage sage and that peculiar sunny creamy yellow that streams in the windows on June afternoons... The windows where you ALWAYS find the cat all curled up with his tail twitching in contentment. Wrapped in summer... light and breezy and say, would you pass me an apple?
Speaking of cats... "MAD LUCY" is ready for market... My old crazy girl cat passed away this past winter and this quilt is a tribute to her. Dark as the nights she roamed the house, yet bright with the tiniest of neon polka dots for her indomitable spirit! It's a log cabin styled, optical illusion with batiks and just crazy gorgeous. Gotta love a little wierdness tho cuz there's a little Mad Lucy embroidered onto the corner!
Since we're kind of in psychedelic mode... I can't wait for you to really see good photos of "Twin Suns and Daughters" ! My watercolor art quilt - first in a series of 3 that will be worked on this summer. My friend, Phoebe Baker, (check her site on Redbubble out on the Wise Woman Marketplace!) made these fabulous prints and they inspired these art quilts. I actually cut up the print, used some of the fabric as squares, used the suns and treescapes whole and then created the fantastical background behind them. Just got me to remembering my science fiction days and earth daughter moon sun things... and oh yeah....
This is definitely going to date me but can we crank up a little Led Zeppelin? "Stairway to 1977" just had to be the name of a little fire orange and water blue with kaleidoscope print art quilt that I finished off just this evening with TA-DA... Swarovski crystals! A reminder of crazy, fun high school and late nights with that special boy friend and homecomings that turned into a wedding dance on down the road. This one's for you, Jeffrey... you may have gone on ahead of the rest of us but your personality and your daughters keep you here with us still. Rock on!
...and then there's Tink.
That one quilt that is just a little different, a little more something than the others. It was giving me fits. A Japanese style Bento Box... gorgeous fabrics replete with rich blues and golds and vibrant greens. I swear the thing shimmers like, well, like it has fairy dust on it! LOL Since I don't know Japanese from Albanian I wasn't going to even try to do the pretentious thing (coming from me - a Japanese name?). And then, it hit me.... the green... the shimmer... it's TINKERBELL GREEN! Trust me, I'm a Yaya to several young granddaughters... Tinkerbell green I KNOW. ...and then the giggles hit along with the crazies. Hmmm... well, you know, IF Tinkerbell went to Tokyo... these would be the fabrics she would like... YEP! By gosh... If Tinkerbell Went To Tokyo is a mighty fine quilty name! ...and I'm willing to bet that someday that quilt title is going to grab someone else's quirky sense of humor and it's will find it's home!
Sure, there's more but you get the idea. There's always a place to have fun in art... and I for one am not about to pass up that place. How about you?
So tonight as I wind everything down... I am wondering if any of you guys do the same thing? Any special things you do when you finish projects? Victory dances that we should know about that take place when UFO's (Un-Finished Objects) become gorgeous goods? I know you're out there having fun...
As for me...Job is done. They all have their names. I've checked that one off the list and I'm heading to bed... IF I can find some pajamas!
Wowee, Zoweeeeee! I want to thank everyone for all of their comments and emails in response to the Beautiful Face post... sure hit a nerve (both good and bad) with it! If you haven't read it (or better yet, watched the video at the end - here's the link! She Had Such a Beautiful Face! I've been getting suggestions as to quotes and ideas for the Beautiful Face quilt, as well as all of the artist's information about the print. So, to set things straight right off the bat: the art print that set this all in motion was one that Sophie
Anderson painted in the late
1800's called "Take the Fair Face of Woman." Here are a few shots of the print itself:
Aren't the colors simply incredible? The golds of her hair, the blues and greens in the butterflies and her eyes are simply riveting and are the colors that I have decided to build the quilt around.
Here are close-ups of the quilt fabrics!
And that blue actually has small metallic gold specks in it, too... mmmm, mmmm... gorgeous!
ADD some fancy stitching...
For embroidery, I've got some simple outlined butterflies and flourishes to pick up on her headpiece and handbag. They are going to be used as a frame around the print and as corner pieces...
Add a sparkling starfield of REAL SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS to her gown and handbag...
VOILA! This is what she's going to look like....
"A Beautiful Face"
"A Beautiful Face" Quilt Design by Just Hatched Production 2010
This is NOT going to be done in the Rag quilting style that Just Hatched normally does; rather this will be in the traditional quilting style. I am also going to embroider a quote about beauty in the lower right hand corner of the portrait as it is actually a bit larger than the photo I have of it and so there is more "dead space" than the design shows. I am open to ALL suggestions for quote!!! I will leave that until the the very end so that purchaser may have as much chance as possible to have their own choice added to quilt. Size of quilt: Approximately 63" x 70" Price: $350
As of right now there is only going to be ONE of this design as the print in the middle was a one time only purchase so if you are interested please let me know as soon as possible.
Life is a highway, by golly, yes, it is! But it's also a sunny suburban avenue, a busy city boulevard and a scary,overgrown, one lane country road where branches screech and scrape against your car as you pass. The road of life is one we ALL have to travel but THIS redhead prefers the lure of the four-lane almost anytime! :-)
WHAT ROAD ARE YOU ON?
One of my favorite songs of all time is "Life is a highway", sung by Tom Cochrane. (I've included it at the end of the blog for you!) Anyhoo, I'm bringing it up for a couple of reasons; it seems like today is the day for all kinds of folks heading off in new directions! My granddaughter, Molly, is starting 1st grade today! My friend Samantha's three are off as well. Poor Samantha; no more "baby" at home and oh boy, the oldest is in JUNIOR HIGH! Talk about a Mom who is looking down a whole new road!
Another good friend of mine has spent the entire summer on pins and needles wondering if she was going to get the job transfer that she put in for in April. Sure, it means that her and her daughter would have to pick up and move back across the country to where they originally came from 4 yrs. ago AND leave her 20 yr. old son here... but hey, Life is a highway, right? But all summer it's been no news and no news and no news and then at the last possible minute... nope, sorry, don't need you. All of the planning- up in smoke. All of the excitement - popped like a balloon. And so it goes...
" Life is a road you travel on, when there's one day here and the next day gone. Sometimes you bend and sometimes you stand, Sometimes you turn your back to the wind."
I grew up a trucker's daughter. My Dad drove for a living. When I was little he drove Charter Bus; he was the driver for the Harlem Globetrotters for a while! I have postcards that he sent me when I was a child from all over the country. Then, when I was in 4th grade he became a truck driver, eventually buying two rigs and becoming an owner-operator. All thru Junior High and High School I was able to go along with him on weekends, and school vacations. We would play all kinds of pranks on each other and each year we would have a special weekend where we would leave early on a job to Murfreesborough, TN. and make a day stop at what was then the Grand Ole' Opry Amusement Park. He would do it with my Mom, then my sister and then me. Mile after mile would roll under us, IL, IN, KY, TN, and so on. My Dad would talk and talk, sharing stories of his life until I would fall asleep in my seat and he would make me crawl into the sleeper to peacefully dream away knowing that his strong hands were holding tightly onto that steering wheel until the next stop. To this day I can't resist truck stop food! LOL My Dad logged over 4 million safe miles before he retired. FOUR MILLION. Blows my mind.
"Through all these cities and all the towns, it's in my blood and it's all around. I love you now like I loved you then. This is the road and these are the hands..."
But what happens when you get knocked off of that safe, comfortable, familiar road? When the smooth highway you've been traveling down becomes that scary, dark, overgrown and unknown road? Or worse yet, when the road dang near disappears and you're up against a mountain on one side and a drop-off on the other? How do you keep on driving, moving forward, surviving the trip? I get asked that question all of the time. Some of you have been wondering how I went from Pastor to quilter, how I deal with my illness, and "What is UP with the Just Hatched thing, anyway?" Today just seemed like a good day to tackle those questions and "Life is a Highway" is a great way for me to answer!
IN THE PROVERBIAL NUTSHELL
Me, 1990's, living in Arizona, 2 kids, working as a full-time pastor of an inter-denominational church (whoo-whee what fun!) Life was great...then the little creeping ailments of my childhood and teen-aged years started YELLING instead of showing up as the occasional loud whisper and after several years of diagnostic hell I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.
For those of you who are not familiar with this lovely condition, just think of it as rust on your digestive tract... yup, not fun. Now let's fast-forward to 10 yrs. later where I'm retired from full-time ministry, in a new relationship, in Illinois and with a few other auto-immune diseases to boot! Seems that if you have one the others like to join the party! Well, I will be honest and tell you that I was plenty upset with THE Man Upstairs for a very long while... and it was thru the company and prayers of the man who would become "The Hubs" and some steadfast friends that I found my way back to a good road again, but Lordy, let me tell you...the Survival Highway is a road hard traveled.
"There's no load, I can't hold, Road so rough this I know, I'll be there when the light comes in... tell 'em we're survivors."
Soooo, what now? Well, I have been sewing since I was five years old. I put myself through college
designing and sewing formal wear; there's lots of custom wedding dresses under these fingers! LOL Then my art background blended with the sewing and I started making church banners and the altar cloths which are known as paraments. Then I started helping a friend in her fabric/Quilt store... then I made a cancer quilt for a friend. Then two. Three. All of that was in the background until THAT ONE DAY! It was a VERY bad day, it was even STORMING outside it was so bad! (It really was, I swear!) I was with my bible study group, Bible Babechicks , and had been grousing about "poor me, now what?". Well, that night's study topic talked about folks who needed to start a whole new life. (FUNNY, LORD... HA, HA, HA!) It spoke about leaving old garbage behind and growing something new. (LA, LA, LA, I sang, with my fingers in my ears) because the Lord does NOT leave you stranded... (which I firmly believed but only for OTHERS, it seemed.). And the Scripture verse that it was built around was 2 Corinthians 5:17
This meant to me that if I was REALLY going to live my life in the faith that I professed I needed to dump that old attitude and look and see what God had ready for me to do! (OK... so now get ready to laugh) .... this little bible study group was taking place in a SEWING ROOM!!
I am a member of several Christian groups in the Chicago area so ministry is NEVER gone...and one of the things I share on a regular basis is what I like to call my "Holy Spirit 2 x 4 moments". That would be the times when I am being so dense that the Holy Spirit has to get my attention by symbolically whacking me upside the head! That sewing room moment? Yeah, a BIGGO 2x4 upside the head! LOL It was SO THERE... down to an illustration of a little chick coming out of it's shell! Get it? Babechick? Just Hatched Babechick? And so Just Hatched Productions was born in 2002.
What do we do at JHP? We have 3 main areas: Quilts, Embroidery and Church Textiles. Our three websites vary a bit in what they cover:
Just Hatched ProductionsOur original website is currently undergoing a "re-hatching" but it contains our Baby blankets, Quilts, Church Banners and other religious embroidery art designs, Photo galleries and Custom Quilt Build(T-shirt, Photo and Memory) information areas.
Just Hatched Productions on ARTFIRE - Our shop on ARTFIRE centers on our embroidered rag quilts, it also offers a wide selection of our embroidered center panels for quilters who want to add that special embroidered touch to their project! Artfire is a great place for us because we have a photo gallery of projects that we've done and sold through this storefront and also custom projects that you can see! It also offers a way for customers and artists to communicate if one would like a custom project made, allows for purchasing without having to "join" and here is where we can offer the largest variety of payment options! All good things! :-)
JustHatchedQuiltsIs our ETSY storefront. Please note that the name is a bit different and if you happen to go there on your own rather than thru a link on our sites that the name needs to be typed in without any spacing between the words. Etsy wierdness. :-) Etsy is a bit more of a crafter's site and so while it carries the same quilts that our Artfire site has, we are loading many more embroidery squares to choose from here. SO.... basically it's ETSY= Embroidery & Quilts and ARTFIRE = Quilts & Embroidery!!
Now, WHAT kind of quilts do we do? Our best known quilts are, of course, done in the country styling known as "Rag Quilting". Rag quilts have all the seams turned up towards the top and they gently fray like old blue jean hems throughout their lives as you wash them. In other words, they just get more and more cuddle-y! :-) What makes OUR quilts stand out from all of the others is the fact that OURS have embroidery AND are all reversible! When most folks think about quilts they picture a really cool top design with all of the little pieces but when you turn the quilt over - one big old piece of fabric! BORING! At Just Hatched we make the back into an entirely new quilt! It will either compliment the front design or be a duplicate - BUT it's done in flannel so the back is super soft and snuggle-y. Two quilts in one! However, we WILL make you a 'regular" quilt, if you insist! :-)
Our other specialties are "T-shirt" and "Memory" quilts where photos, embroidery and clothing items are incorporated into a quilt or wall-hanging. Again, we are a bit different from other quilting services that are out there; we like to embellish with custom embroidery designs and text, and we offer extensive photo services such as repair work on old photos, combining of multiple photos into one image and more. If you'd like to see an example of one of our photo/scrapbook quilts please visit our YouTube channel at JHPQuilts or click here to see And Then They Laughed - A Family Scrapbook Quilt
EMBROIDERY - JHP has over 18,000 designs at our disposal... so trust me, we have something to fill your needs! LOL If we don't have it - I can digitize it! I am also proud to say that we do portrait embroidery... yep, you have a photo of someone special? I can, in most cases, make it into an embroidery design. IN MOST CASES! However, the images at this point are only done in B/W or vintage sepia. JHP also offers custom logo design, etc. (Photo /sewn digitized embroidery )
BANNERS - Does your faith family need a new banner? At JHP we can make it! We can even help you design a banner system to hang it in your sanctuary or to store them!!! Is someone getting married? Baptized? Confirmed? Churches LOVE to receive new banners as gifts! Brides and new Moms love to have their very own banners to commemorate the occasion. We design banners of all sizes from 2 feet to 20! ...and yes, we can duplicate a wedding invitation! :-) Click here to see a selection of JHP's Just Hatched Productions Baptismal Banner Designs
BACK TO THAT HIGHWAY!
SO.... LIFE ... it is a heck of a highway! Some of you '"met" JHP at craft fairs over these
past few years and we have loved meeting each and every one of you! You may have noticed our absence this past year. We've been on that scary country road for awhile. Both of our Father's passed away from cancer, I was living part time in Arizona and part time here for 6 months while that was going on. Since then the Hubs has had THREE knee replacements and twice I've had nasty old rounds of pneumonia that wouldn't go away for 4 months. We also had to say good bye to BOTH of our dogs.... all things which resulted in our working from home for the past year. BUT it also resulted in a LOT of creativity coming to the forefront, the web-stores were expanded and OH MY, you should see the quilting studio! Just
Hatched continues to evolve; our banner area is back up and running
after a bit of a hiatus and we are gearing up for a FULL FALL and
HOLIDAY season of offerings on the websites! If you are interested in a
custom project please email me and let's put our heads together! I can
always be reached here or at [email protected]. The road twists and turns and we find ourselves back on that old FOUR LANE!!!
THAT'S MY STORY AND I'M STICKIN' TO IT!
I hope that explains this old Babechick's story a bit! I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful HUBS who supports me and my ...ahem...hobby that grew into a whole lot of ROAD!
I am so very blessed to have met so many great folks on this road trip that I am on. This blog, aptly named "Just Hatched, Just Thinking" is my way of sharing my stories; from the road, the studio, and from those great folks. Like the song says: "Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long.If you're going my way, I want to drive it all night long!" So jump on in, the motor's running! and we've got good tunes! Who knows where we'll end up???? Pamela
“Oh, yes,” I hear…”She had SUCH a beautiful face!”…and I am once again flummoxed by those words.They never cease to amaze me.It somehow seems like the sum of one’s existence is being stated… and there are so VERY many ways that danged sentence is uttered!
Can't you just HEAR them???
WISTFULLY…. She had such a beautifulface….
SADLY… She had such a beautiful face….
CATTILY… She had such a beautiful face!
HAPPILY… She had SUCH a beautiful face!
Funny how many meanings we can give the same 6 words, isn’t it?
BLAME IT ON THE INFOMERCIAL!
OK, so I’ll admit it… once again, a certain red-headed wraith was up until the wee hours of the morning…with the TV on because a certain puppy had run away with the remote.All well and good while they were showing a run of “Medium” episodes (Anyone out there besides me all beschmuggled by the casting of the show’s daughters??... Is that middle kid the milkman’s spawn, or what?But I digress…)ahem,as I was saying, it was all well and good as I relaxed doing some photo-work and watching Allison dream her way thru a few episodes.But then the bloody infomercials began…
OOOH!A steam mop!And then ooooh!…some kind of hellacious blender!
And then …oooh!You, too, can ONCE AGAIN have a beautiful face!
Oh no, you didn’t!OH yes, they did!With promises of being able to erase 10 years of wrinkles (spray here) , age spots galore(like they were never there!) and BEST of all… take 10 pound off just by strategic shadowing… because you know…. ONCE … you HAD such a beautiful face!Oh poo-nanners!Go powder yourself!
IT’S CALLED LIFE, BUCKO!
I’m willing to bet that most of us have heard it a time or two.I know that in my circle of spectacular Babechick friends… it’s slapped a few of us around a time or two.Take Ruth, for instance.Divorced mom of two teenagers; teaching her high school heart out, working wayyyyy too many hours .… yeah… she had such a beautiful face until that marriage…but she found the strength to make it on her own and the journey there, well, it took it’s toll.Poor Ruth…poor, poor Ruth.
How about Melissa*?She was a looker, that Missy!OH… well, yeah, cancer treatments… yeah, they are rough…. Having to quit your job doesn't help any either... What about Linda*?Another beauty, always the true Church Lady… but when you loose a child so unexpectedly, well, it changes you.And, let’s not forget Jill*…always such a command performer, wasn’t she?Boy, you sure knew when she walked into a room… wait, what?She’s been on those meds how many years??Oh, no wonder she’s gotten so heavy.Pity.She had such a beautiful face, too.
(*Names changed to preserve privacy)
Yeah, we’ve all heard those words.If we’re honest, we’ve probably said them, too.Funny thing, though, I don’t think of any of those women as any less beautiful today than “before”.It’s life.Sometimes we live it…and sometimes it lives us.My friend "Poor, Old Ruth" over there on the right is a better Babechick now than she ever was “before’… Yeah… we HAD such beautiful faces… and buddy, we’ve only gotten better!
BECAUSE OF YOU…
To honor all of my “Babechick” friends I am going to make a quilt out of this beautiful printed “Butterfly Fairy” piece which was done BY another of my Babechick friends!The lovely FeeBeeDee of Etsy fame listed this and I promptly snapped it right up!
It was this piece of art stewing in my imagination along with that danged infomercial that got this whole post going so blame FEEEBEEE if you don’t like it!Tee, hee, hee.
I’ll be posting photos as I go along of the design.I’m not sure what’s going to happen to it then… any ideas, Ladies?I do know that the title is going to be….
“A Beautiful Face!”
From one Babechick to all of you other beautiful faces…. Pamela
PS... SInce folks are still finding their way over to the new blog we have decided to extend the deadline on the Nautical/Beach/Lighthouse quilt theme giveaway to September 1, 2010. Please read post and give us YOUR suggestions!! Pamela
For the umpteenth time THIS MONTH I received yet another post from a friend on Facebook that read "CANCER SUCKS!". This time it's the Aunt of a long-time friend who is losing her battle with breast cancer. Last week it was a brother with kidney cancer. The week before a child with brain cancer...it never stops. Emily is gone. Tim is gone. My Father-in-Law...gone. My Father - gone in less than 5 months! Pancreatic, testicular, prostate, liver...cancers all and I'm bloody tired of it.
My Dad
The one way that I "fight" back is by making a quilt that can go with folks into treatment; it's small enough to fit over wheelchairs and on gurneys yet big enuf to snuggle under. It's made to be signed with messages of love and encouragement by friends and family. And I'd like to build a stash of them to give away as a way to FIGHT BACK!!
I'd like to throw a series of CANCER SUCKS! SEWING PARTIES....I have the sewing room, the machines, the fabric and the time. Even if YOU can't sew- I can teach you... or you can cut, or assemble or be the comic entertainment!! COME and QUILT... you'll learn how to rag quilt for FREE and have a great time with other folks who are as PO'd at cancer as YOU are! We can make pink, and purple and blue and teal and.....
All quilts will be signed by ALL the folks who put in time and everyone will get a letter when one goes out as a donation to a special someone in need.
I
am open to weekend, daytime and evening sessions... just tell me when
YOU can come and I will group folks into "PARTIES"... Come once, or
come until you make a whole quilt... just COME!
We promise that there WON'T be a dull moment! LOL
If you aren't in the area and would like to contribute towards materials please comment and let me know and I will send out a paypal invoice.. Any amount would be appreciated! Your name will be added to the quilts as well!
COME ON....CANCER SUCKS!.... Make a quilt... .Make a difference!
Up too late, power out in the middle of the night, cranky puppy that would NOT go to sleep and just one too many nights on the couch for the daughter. Too much paperwork, lost computer files, two too many days on bed rest for the Momma. Add 'em together and well...we've all been there now, haven't we? But we managed to get thru it by staying on our own floors of the house and then she left to go to the beach with her BFF, KB. Suddenly my home got immeasurably bigger and the air was cooler and yes... I think I even heard angels singing. The hours passed and I got involved in my own work and then "DING" ... my phone went off; I had a text message. Well, no.. what I really had was this:
Funny how fast things can change, isn't it? Suddenly that CHILD that I wanted to strangle had once more become the generous and loving young woman that I enjoyed sharing a home with... Yes, I AM a sap, but I am so very glad that I am. As Natalie and KB sent me photos from their phones it started all kinds of ideas flowing so hang on tight because you ARE along for the ride!
Check out where they spent their day:Chicago lakefront Loyola/Rogers Park
Yeah... hard not to hate, isn't it??? LOL... and it was a THURSDAY!
Oh, you should meet KB and her special
guy, Mike.
KB and Natalie went to HS together and now both are doing the nursing thing and Mike? Well, he got to escort two tall redheads to the beach today.
Michael is one very happy man....
Once they sent me the first few pix ... my crazy brain was off and running! I asked them to send me photos of what they thought was cool at the beach... just to see what I would get back. Now... stay with me, OK? I PROMISE a good payoff for your efforts!! Here is what came back... (thank you, Lord, for camera phones!!!!)
A Dog playing in the waves, and a pretty cool sand sculpture were the first things that came in. You know, the obvious "I was at the beach" photos that we all take.
And then they started to see things a little differently...
And they started to send me shots that they thought I would have some fun with...even if it meant simply changing waves from color to black and white. Because I could.
And then there was this cool family shot that begged to be played with
(stay with me...)
And Natalie's feet in the surf...
But the one that topped it all off is this one...
Why this one? Out of all the things there are to look at, to experience, to touch and see and smell at the lakefront why was this little shell so fascinating that BOTH girls took photos of it?
You know, it wasn't until I took the color out of the photograph that it grabbed me and made me look twice. There was just something about the clarity of the shell against her hand and then the graininess of the sand below. I can almost FEEL the sand under my toes when I look at this photo! There is just something about the...exactness...of this photo that just gets my creative juices going.
407 SPOOLS & NOWHERE TO GO
I guess that is what fascinates me about machine embroidery; the exactness of it. I can take all of my computer skills and my 407 spools of thread (I counted) and stitch this into existence on a quilt, a pillow or whatever it is that someone would like. I get to paint with thread and it is a BLAST! But... here is where I hit the wall!!! I TOLD YOU it would be worth your wait!
Let's REALLY get in the "nautical mood" shall we? CLICK the bar below for some Sailin' music!
Here is our problem: I have about 120 gorgeous "nautical/east coast/lighthouse/beach/ship" embroidery designs. I have gorgeous fabric to match each of the above designs... I have been duly inspired by the wonderful photographs that BOTH of my "daughters" took today... BUT I CAN'T make up my freaking mind which to do first! LOL I'm like a kid in a candy store... SO the HUBS came up with an absolutely GRAND idea - LET YOU PICK! I like it! Here is the deal: We're going to give away one of the three options below (Winner's choice)
A) AN EMBROIDERED THROW PILLOW IN THE WINNING DESIGN, OR
B) A $50 CREDIT TOWARDS A QUILT IN THE WINNING DESIGN, OR
C) A COORDINATING FAT QUARTER FABRIC ASSORTMENT WITH AN EMBROIDERED DESIGN PANEL OF THE WINNING QUILT DESIGN
YOU have to tell us which one you want and why! SO peek at the fabrics and use YOUR "beach brain" and tell us if it should be:
LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTHOUSES & DID I MENTION LIGHTHOUSES? or
SHIPS & OLD MAPS, or
BEACHES, BAYS & BUOYS
We'll take your comments/choices until the 15 of August and then... the HUBS will pick! Can't wait to hear what YOUR ideas are!!!
WE HAVE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE TO SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 DUE TO THE RE-LOCATION OF THE BLOG.... HAPPY VOTING! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! :-)
Happy imagining! (Aren't you glad you came along for the ride???) Pamela
Participants will choose one of the three fabric assortments above: Lighthouses, Ships, or Beaches and tell us why Just Hatched should make their next quilt from that chosen assortment. Participant will also state which of the following items they would like if they win: an embroidered pillow, $50 coupon towards the new quilt, or a quilter's package of fabric and embroidery panel in winning design.
I'm so excited, I just can't hide it... I'm about to start a brand new blogging life in a brand new barnyard (so to speak) LOL. " Babechick on the loose...babechick on the loose!" should be in biggo red letters across the top of this post but I'm trying to add just a bit of restraint. Remember later that I only said "Trying." :-) I've been blogging on my Artfire Store site for a few months now but I've been encouraged to "Hatch" and bring my scratchings into a real blogging venue... SO HERE... I ...IS!
My "bio" at the top is pretty straight on but the real me in a nutshell is this: <deep breath> Kids/grandkids critters quilting teaching trying not to snort when I
laugh whupping the HUBS butt on any wi-fi game on our iPhones
exploring my faith (still...yet...always) meeting other fabric artists
collecting bracelets Parrish art growing my knowledge base in
photo/graphics still with the snorting and the ever present search
for the perfect night's sleep....I'm breathing, I'm breathing!
IN MY HOUSE
Here in the windy city 'burbs we have a crazy household of "The Hubs",
me, and my youngest daughter, Natalie. I'm a native cheesehead, Hubs is a Cowboy. Met in AZ now live in the Chicago burbs...where he is simply a child fascinated with all of the colors of GREEN!!!!!!! This photo of my beloved Mr. Ben "surfing" ON a friend's boat "up nort"says it all!
THE OTHER REDHEAD
Natalie, nicknamed "Songbird" is our youngest daughter; we have many adventures together and I'm loving having her home again. She's also working full time and is growing a relationship with her BF, Joe, who all but lives here (whom we adore). Joe's family name is Billy Bob Joe John Jr., the third, but WE call him Billy Bob Joe John for short. (Man, I wish I could see the look on your face right now! ) Why? Because when my cowboy Hubs was faced with this lovely young Polish man's last name he about fainted... check the archives if you want a good giggle; they'll be up soon! Natalie is back home attending college; she changed from vocal theatre to NURSING... follow the passion, we say.
LIONS, AND TIGERS, AND BEARS, OH MY!
I also admit to being totally critter crazy. We have a small problem tho; the Hubs is a Cat person while I am a "Woof" woman, myself. So we compromise and have BOTH! lol We just removed all carpeting and vacuum everyday... every...day. Like I said... critter crazy. We have 2 puppies; a crazy Shorgie mix (um...that's a German Shedder- Corgi party), she's named Hooli! LOL, and a little Corgi boy named Swatch! ...and a passle of seriously old kitties who we'll be saying goodbye to soon, sigh. The Songbird's two kitty boys are also residing with us; they are known as "THE BOYS"... said with fear and trepidation.
THE HOOLARINAS!
Jocelyn & big sister, Molly
We left our families behind in AZ and that includes our Moms, eldest daughter, Briana, and our 2 HOOLARINA granddaughters... Hoolarina, you ask??? What the heck is a Hoolarina??? Why it's a combination of a hooli-gan and a ballerina!
And THAT is the perfect description of a little girl who wears
Carhartts and cowboy boots with her tutu's and fairy wings while playing
safari hunter out in the backyard!
AH YES, JUST HATCHED PRODUCTIONS... (Usually known as JHP)
Hmmm, what else? I have a great quilt studio built into the house where I design quilts, create memory quilts, design and create church banners and paraments large and small and (most fun of all) teach quilting and machine embroidery to other crazy crafters like ME! Best way to understand JHP? LOL...well, everyone seems to like my "rules":
1) Laughter is a part of every project.
2) Experiment? Heck, yes!
3) If you sew fast enough it IS aerobic exercise!
4)That screen door and squirt bottle hanging from it keep the critters out- Close the first and Use the second! As you can see, however, it did NOT keep that pesky RUTH out....
SO.... that's my world. I write about whatever is happening in it... quilts, kids, Crohn's, or cats...it's a crap shoot, as they say, but I'd sure like to have you along for the telling of it. Rodeo on! Pamela
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