Just Hatched Just Thinking

Looking for the Perfect Sky

Today I looked for a bunch of items; my glasses, Dobbie the cat, my special embroidery scissors, my 
glasses again, my wallet, my husband, and yes... my glasses.   But as it turns out, the most important thing that I searched for today was the sky.  Not any old sky, mind you... but the perfect sky.  

What's a perfect sky?  Well, it's got to be the right blue with just the right amount of "clouds", too.  Not that fake bright blue but a gentle, summer day kinda blue.  The kind he liked the best.   And the clouds... they should be those wispy, floaty ones that seem to be almost imaginary... yeah... that's what I want.   That would be perfect.  See, Dad, I do remember.

                    

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING

It's been 2 years now since he passed away from Pancreatic cancer and today is Father's Day.   In a few hours families all over the country are going to wake up and celebrate each in their own way.  Some of you will be joining with your Fathers and some, like my husband and I, will not.  It's ok, tho.  I mean, I miss my Dad... but  when I was going through my photographs for this project... I was smiling.  Wow.  It really IS ok. 

No matter the state of our individual "Dad-ship",  I venture to say that we each wake up today "looking for something"  simply because of the meaning of the day itself.  Some will find a good answer to that quest and some will not.  It took me until the day of my Dad's passing to find an answer that would let my heart rest and that too, is ok.  Today, like the title says, finds me looking for the perfect sky.

My Dad was a pilot ( just for fun altho he held several advanced ratings.)  He was the youngest licensed pilot in the US for several years way back in the day.  That would have something to do with my Grandfather owning an airport and my Dad's Godfather being the supervisor of Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. But hey, some kids take advantage of getting the keys to the car - my dad got the Cubbie!  ...in a snowstorm.    He was the impatient type.   ...No relation. 

BEEN THERE, FLOWN THAT

Anyhoo, over the years he filled an abnomal amount of log books, learned to fly many types of aircraft, did stunt flying and got me out of many a boring class to fly with him to lunch.  He had his moments but he could be one seriously cool dude! After I started my embroidery business I made him a jacket that had "Been There, Flown That" on it with a list of all the aircraft that he had flown throughout the years.  Funniest thing about it was that I gave it to him after he had moved from Wisconsin to Arizona...and he wore it anyway.  Had to be the only "Cotton Swab" in a jacket when it was nearing 90 outside! LOL  He wore it and proudly told EVERYONE who made it and why... told strangers, told waitresses, told the mailman.  Never told me.  Stubborn old coot.  ...No relation.

Sooooo, why the perfect sky?  Because he grew up in an airport... and so did I.  I grew up playing in the hangers of a little airport outside of Waukesha, Wi.  that is now known as Crites Field.   Dragging wooden wheel chocks around on their ropes like playtoys, playing with my sister in the shadows of Cessna wings and always being the "Ready Freddy" if someone needed a passenger to practice "touch and go" landings.  I wonder now what MY logbook would look like if I had kept one of my passenger time!  My sister and I had a VERY different idea in mind than most of our friends when we begged our Dad to "make us go upside down!"  And so, today...this Father's Day... I am looking for the perfect sky.

I PINKIE SWEAR

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the last few months of my Dad's life out in Arizona with him.  We had some special times working together late at night and one of the things we talked about was that I would make a quilt for exhibition about the airport and our family.  He made me promise to do so.  The danged airport and the quilt. Pinkie swear.  Ok...maybe not pinkie swear but you get the idea. Well, I have since traveled up to the airport that my Grandpa founded and taken photos and started the process of getting old photos to THEM... check.  But now... it's time to start the quilt which means it's time to find me a sky.  

I'm going to have to look for one biggo piece of fabric that is just so... so wish me well.  I want to start with something worthy of that special pilot.   This is going to be a memory quilt, an art of the airplane, if you will. So you see...not just an y piece of blue will do.   I even have  photos of my Great-Grandparents in early, early J3-Cubs and other such incredibl e pictures that will trace my family's history... 

 
Heck, I even have one of  the frame  of a kit plane that they were putting together.  The funny part of the story is they had moved it to a new "barn/garage" which happened to be an old soap factory.  The first time they fired up the engine the pressure expanded all of the boards in the building and the old soap flaked off and it "snowed" like crazy down on them! Took them forever to figure out what was going on and shut down the plane!  Again, I say... no relation.

 

            WEST BEND AIRWAYS ALWAYS

 

I have my Grandfather's business card, his aviation club member ship 
and other wonderful items that I am going to build this quilt around.   The bottom will be a hanger with  "West Bend Airways",  my Grandpa's  place, over the door and all around will be those photos showing our past...  There's going to be two little girls dragging some chocks around the corner and a brunette sunning herself by the door.  Hi, Mom!  

 

And in that perfect sky with the perfect clouds you're going to see that perfect plane of his.  The circus kitty.  The Mooney.     Keeping company will be the rest of his fleet.  The Aeronica and the Apache (wings intact, Dad, wings intact!)...the Gypsy Moth and the Waco,  the Taylor Craft and the Twin Aztec... and above it all will echo your famous words.  "Been There... Flown That."  ...and all in a perfect sky.

 

If Tinkerbell Went to Tokyo

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 n ame 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!  

Just Hatched...Just Thinking... Pamela   

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Picture of Married Life

Why can’t it always be this …. Simple?   OK, so after yet another 2 week hospital stay (that’s for another post this is WAYYY more important that that!) I’m back in the saddle again and have FINALLY put all the pieces back together again to this humpty dumpty of a blog.  Some of you might have been gone along with me but the last time I came on to “bring spring to the winter look” of Just Hatched, Just Thinking” my lovely laptop blew it’s lovely mind and the end result was that my entire blog was blown to bits. (I love my computer and it loves me… I love my computer and it loves me….)  Sooooo after biting the bullet and spending a day or two or getting it all pieced back together again(is it still 2011?)  I was wandering about the studio today wondering what I was going to write about when this whole scenario took place. 

As I walk by my husband’s home office door he shouts out –

HUBS: Hey, honey… How come you just don’t use this camera?

ME: What camera?

HUBS: The one I got you for your birthday last year.

Which stopped me in my tracks, thinking frantically…some foggy memory coming to mind…then wait for it… clearer…yes, yes,… the HUBS absconding with said camera for … HUBBY PROJECTS!   Why?  Because the WIFE has an iphone with a perfectly good camera on it!  OK, so…  

ME:  Hand over the camera. 

End scenario.

 Yes, it’s a common American household occurrence, this ahem, misplacement of goods.  And yes, family members SHOULD share but oh… when the HUBS is so darn HUBBY????   Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.   Belly up to the girl bar, with me, won’t you?

For the past 2 months I have been fussing about how I cannot get good photos of my quilts for website marketing, heck for any marketing because I DO NOT HAVE WHAT?

A decent camera.

I have spent the past week trying to redo a non-existent budget, using all of my wiles to con it into producing funds for what?

A decent camera.

Lost sleep surfing E-bay, and burned my brain out looking at cookware, jewelry and easy-pay BBQ grills on QVC hoping to find…. A decent camera.

And all this time Mr. Decent Camera was living a scant 10 feet from my own studio door.  Who knew?

Ah…now we come to the heart of the matter.  WHO KNEW?   That handsome face has  been hiding this secret for almost a year.  He and his cats.   Pirating my birthday booty!   Keeping me from my very own Kodak moments!   Easy Share technology hoarders!  Hah!  See where that gets you now that you no longer have it!  Har, har, har….

Lord, knows I love the man.  But when I asked him WHY on earth he hadn’t said anything oh, like,  “RED, YA ALREADY GOT A CAMERA! “ during this entire period of  photo sturm and drang his answer was simply “I just thought you didn’t like the one I had gotten you.”  Well, shut the front door!  This lovely man has gone an entire year thinking that I didn’t like his birthday gift.  WHOOOOOOPS! (The pirate wench will be leaving us now.)

   Sometimes I wonder how we manage not to burn this place down! LOL

And so, my quilty friends, I’ll be going now.  I have some photos to take and some snuggling to do with the HUBS.  After all, he did get me one heck of a birthday gift! AH…these are the times of our lives, are they not? Wishing you the same. Pamela

Ch...Ch...Changes...

Wow... it's been almost 5 months since I last posted here.  How time flies... or crawls depending on the day!  Life has taken me all OVER the place since I sat here "Just Thinking".     I have had lots of fun and frolic as well as a fair amount of pain mixed in with the pleasure; in other words, my life has been just like everyone one elses!   Why do I write about it?    For the simple pleasure of sharing the insanity!  Because when the silliness happens - it's GOOD to know that I'm not the only nut in the jar!  When life is a blender set on frappe... you guys always come up with ways to push the stop button.  And, most of all, when it's unbearably painful - you're always there with the vodka; what more could a girl want?  So, once again... she's Baaaaaaack!  I hope that you'll join me on my crazy "Just Hatched" journey once again.  I've got LOADS to tell you and LOTS of new things to share!  

WHERE TO START???

Duh!  Start with the quilts, dummy!   Our two websites -Just Hatched Quilts on Etsy and Just Hatched Productions on Artfire continue to thrive and while we are not doing craft shows at this time we ARE doing custom orders like never before!  The most exciting thing for me, however, is the change in my time commitments which is now allowing me to create art quilts and to teach in the studio.  Wooo, HOOOOO!!

I retired in Nov. as a GED examiner at the local community college and the Hubs and I redid the "sewing studio" into a "teaching studio"... It is awesome!  I can fit 4 students at a time for lessons; the perfect number for really hands on teaching!  Studio JHP has been up and running since November and we are really rocking some great quilts and embroidery projects!  On that note- you'll be seeing some photo albums popping up on the left side of the page that will have great pix of the Studio during classes , "works in progress", and then the TA-DA!  it's finished photos! LOL

I LOVE teaching...  Wanna know the best part?  THE HUBS has just been placed on permanent work from status (YEAHHHH!) so his "office" is right across the hall from the Studio!   We get to see each other during the day, share lunch - or better yet, if it's a slow day - HE COOKS... for ALL of us in the studio (or fetches, as the case may be! LOL).   Too much fun!  We even have the Keurig coffee cart set up in the hall between us so we can all have our caffiene fix without disturbing the other's work environment!   Wait...what's that I'm hearing?  Groans at having the Hubs around 24/7?   Not here.  He's already been working from home for almost 2 years - the result of having THREE knee replacements done - and we were dreading the day he would have to start commuting downtown again!  I just never get tired of seeing his furry face... don't think I ever will, either!

And the quilts????  Well, my head has been STUFFED with landscapes, and fantasy, and art deco patterns and , and, and..... all kinds of  ideas that I want to create with fabric and thread and yarn and painting and photographs and, and, and!!!  I FINALLY have the time - built in- planned for- expected- to pull them out from between my ears and bring them to life!   WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!  That will be ANOTHER photo album that will be added onto the side bar!  HOWEVER, if you'd like to take a peek at one that I just finished - click here for a short video! Arizona On My Mind Quilt   And, please, let me know what you think about things... I would love to hear what you are thinking about our quilts; rag, embroidery, art... any and all! 

                                         AND THEN THERE WAS LIFE...

   And the question was asked from a friend in Berlin, in Montreal and in San Jose... what DID happen that you weren't writing.  We missed you.   Like I said earlier, life, both up and down, happened.   Family things took time and energy;  my daughter, Briana, the one who lives in Arizona, was in a serious car accident and was partially paralyzed (her left leg totally without any feeling or movement) and she is slowly recovering from that.  Restructuring Just Hatched Productions to allow for Studio JHP and teaching was a biggo time cruncher, too!   My other business is in the advertising and social networking arena; I help small businesses create blogs and websites as well as design biz cards and paper advert and marketing goods and I picked up two new clients late in the fall.  YEAH!!!!    It was VERY exciting because one of them had their blog chosen as blog of the week by one of their field's biggest suppliers!!  I was such a proud Momma!  

      Then we've had some real heartbreakers these past few months; we had to put down our cat, Ricky, age 17,  and then his sister, Lucy, passed away in her sleep a short time afterward.  Lucy (known as Mad Lucy due to her eerie habit of stalking the hallways at night, erratica
lly  emitting low-pitched moans and cries),  passed during the crazy blizzard that Chicago had a few weeks back.  I sat up all night, snuggling her until she was too weak and sleepy to really hold, then we put her in a box with pillow and blanket and heating pad and pulling it over to my computer desk,  she slept the hours away while I designed an appropriately crazy quilt and then cut and pieced it as she slipped away...  She is embroidered on the corner and I only have to quilt it now.  I've designed all different cat poses to quilt it with rather than one single boring stitch over the whole blanket.  It will be going on my sites as the "Mad Lucy Quilt"... someone out there will appreciate the love and history of that crazy old girl!

CHICK PIX LAUNCH!

Very exciting news!  The very last thing that kept me just a TAD bit busy was preparing for my very own product launch!  YEP!  Just Hatched Productions has launched a photo-digitizing service called "Chick Pix" which works like this; you send us via email a photo that you would like  digitized into a machine embroidery file and I create a "photo-stitch" type design for you, put it onto a CD along with thread charts, jpg of sewout and so on and send it back!  Size of designs are 3x3-8x10, no charge for differing sizes,  design can be in color, BW or sepia AND you will get the threads in whatever manufacturer you choose! No more spending an hour converting thread colors!  How cool is that!!

Mary Forte of Fabrics, Etc. 2 launched Chick Pix at her store 2 weeks ago thru all of her embroidery and sew clubs.  GO MARY!  Chick Pix will be available here on the blog and on our websites by the weekend if you are interested!   We are so excited!  If you would like to see what some of our portrait work looks like check out these two videos on YouTube; in addition to the crazy Zion National Park Embroidery Throwdown you will see other small portrait projects!

Zionhiker 1 - Embroidery Throwdown! 

  Zionhiker 2- Set on You ... It is Finished!

 

 THIS CHICK SAYS

   The last thing I have to tell you this afternoon ( as I need to finish up a quilt!) is that I'll be inviting my students to join me on the blog!   They'll be on the left hand side-bar under the heading "This Chick Says".   I heartily invite you to see what they might have to say as their life journeys are pretty cool! 

Tanya speeds around the country visiting her grandchildren (and sewing all the while), checking in on her parents, and snowmobiling and boating with the Hubs at her vacation home;  again, sewing at every opportunity!  She couldn't wait to retire so that she could join Studio JHP to learn "EVERYTHING!"  ... whew!  She DOES mean everything!

Paula (also known as Pony Jo) is our horsewoman... balancing job, home,   firefighter hubs and 2 boys, and oh yeah...THREE horses!  An accomplished rider she is learning both embroidery design and quilting... if it involves a horse...she's there!

Ruth... my Teacher Sister Friend!  Mom of two, teacher of those with special needs, this woman can sew you up one side and down the other!  She is learning the embroidery side of life.

Barb (also known as Sunny Daze) is our Newbie... and I do mean NEW-bie!   Basically never sewed a stitch in her life outside of that dreaded Jr. high school class jumper!   Barb joined us for some "color therapy" in the "Rainbow Room" (studio's nick due to all of the fabric bolts! LOL) and tackled an appliscape pillow and was HOOKED!  Barb's journey is quite special and I have invited her to have her own blog page on Just Hatched, Just Thinking.  Look for posts from Sunny Daze... I guarantee your spirit will be fed.

TO SUM IT UP!

Like it or not... I'm back! LOL

Studio JHP means I am teaching and will be sharing what we are learning and laughing about as we cut, press, sew and quilt!  It also means I am blessed by having some pretty fantastic women to sew with and am hoping will share this writing space!

Retired means - ART QUILTS and CHICK PIX!

Other than that?  Same Hubs, Same Songbird daughter (who is just starting another major Karaoke contest so get ready for new music videos!) who is still part of the dynamic duo with Billy Bob Joe John, Jr. the THIRD.  Still Grandma to those 2 crazy Hoolarinas out in Arizona - Miss Molly and Miss Jocee.  Miss Molly just sent me a slew of photos of her in the tutu that was made for her for portrait shots with her baby sister.  Ya Ya (that's me) had a whole bunch of fun playing around with the photos art-wise and making a video in return of Miss Molly as a STAR MODEL!  Too much fun and too cute to bear.  Those who want to catch up on Miss MOlly (who is almost thru 1st grade I might add) can click on the link below to get a peek at "Good Golly, Miss Molly"

Critter list?

Hoolarina (Hoolie)  the Shorgie -half corgie/half German Shedder... and mighty silly looking, too.

Cullen - the proper Corgie... good thing he's cute cuz he's...well, let's just say he would ride the short bus to doggy school if there was such a thing.

Meiko- Our tiny but tough B/W Tuxedo Kitty who rules the house- the next old girl that we are going to lose but we are loving every day while we have her.

Dobby and Rajah - hellcat brothers, Wollenda circus act in feline form,  only four... and they live until 16?????????????????????????????????????

                     ...tha...tha...that's all, folks!   It's good to be back!  Pamela

 

 

An Unexpected Journey

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in the Chicago 'burb that I reside in. Autumn is gliding in on the points of the orange and red leaves of the tree across from my studio window and the much-beloved school bus yellow is back in our world! There is much to catch up on within my Just Hatched world, I know... but not today.

Today has become a day of reflection that my heart says that I must share. I have been sitting in front of my sewing machine quietly quilting for a few hours with my head and heart trying to digest a documentary that I watched earlier today. I was taking a break from sitting up and just flipped thru Hulu like I normally do and instead of clicking on an episode of "House" or something else that would just slide thru my brain, LOL... I found a piece called "7 Days in September", clicked and then world stopped.

 So, while there is much to tell of the past few weeks here at JHP... there is more to say by sharing this incredible video. It is a collection of "home" movies by 27 folks of the events of Sept.11, 2001. As I said in my Facebook post - this so-called "Wordster" simply has no words. If you haven't seen it - do. If you think you don't have the time - make it. If you think you have seen everything you need to see on the subject - you're wrong. This is full of personal, immediate thoughts and images that are NOT of the "shocking/TV news" kind... but of the human, in the moment, this is my life kind.

Why am I sharing this? To be honest...because I never really knew the full extent of the whole disaster. At the time I was trying to shelter my young daughter as much as possible from the media images and sensationalization which also allowed me to "duck and cover". What is really odd for me is that the HISTORIAN in me collected the special Time issues, etc. for that same daughter to have in her "history chest"... Yeah, I know, other mom's collect table linens. I collect historical papers for her. LOL. So we have ALL of the information... but it's all nicely put away. Today, with this video, I took off the emotional blinders in a big way. Tonight I will watch this with that very same daughter...who is all grown-up now. I cannot even imagine the conversation afterwards, but I know we will have one.

You know, I quilt memories...to create them, save them, pass them on. Today was a very interesting lesson in not being afraid to gather them.

 Peace today to each of you. Pamela

 

Can It Really Be That Simple?

Life used to be...I don't know... simpler, i guess.  More "Mr. Rogers" and less "Kill Bill".  Did any of you grow up NOT knowing your next door neighbor's?  How about the one's next to them?  Anybody remember block parties? Seems that for many of us those things have fallen by the wayside; only memories now of our childhoods  as we all build fences to border our yards.  You know, Mr. Rogers- he was really on to something...    

 

 

 

 Or...take coloring, for instance.  When is the last time that you picked up a crayon?  Or wandered thru a park with no purpose other than to look at how many shades of green you could find?  When was the last time that you looked at anything with eyes other than your own?  Ah, that's the kicker, isn't it?  Who has time for THAT?  Most of us barely have time to live in our own crazy worlds none-the-less have time to spare for someone else's!! 

   Well, that's kind of what life had been getting like here in the Gregan household; a little spin crazy, shall we say?  Work starting up at the college again, the Songbird is  starting a new semester in school, the garage rebuild is going to be starting any day now, new quilt classes for JHP (YEAH!!!) and so on and so on...  but we had two special things to keep on the calendar.  Two weekends with new friends . One just passed and the other is coming up in September.  Now I don't know what traveling involves in your household, but in ours?  Ai, yi, yi.... puppy needs, dietary stuff, and don't forget my squishy pillow should sum it up.  LOL  And that isn't the craziest thing about this first visit!  The crazy part is that  the Hubs, the pup and I were making a 4 hr. drive to northern Wisconsin to spend the weekend with a "friend" of mine.  Yep, a friend... well, a quilt customer, actually.  We ended up passing a bunch of emails back and forth about the quilt that she was ordering and those evolved into emails about life and then we became Facebook friends and well, we HAVE talked ONCE on the phone... Yeah, her girlfriend said she was nuts too! LOL   "What?  ...and they're staying with you?  Are you crazy?"   Maybe a little.... 

THE FACEBOOK KITCHEN

I dunno... I've said it before - Facebook has become the "kitchen" for many of us... we grab a cuppa in the morning and fire up our laptops and all meet each other around the screen...  or maybe our schedules are more middle of the night - the cool thing is that it doesn't matter.  I can catch up with Carol and Sue no matter what the time even tho we are NEVER functioning at the same time for a long phone call.  And, this time, it allowed for Diane and I to become friends from 200 miles apart.  Can it REALLY be that simple?

 It seems that we are still wanting to be part of a neighborhood... still wanting to be part of a group, still wanting that particular closeness only we are no longer needing it to be next door!  Mr. Rogers must be spinning!  I know that my Mom just shakes her head every time she visits and the topic comes up of my circle of girlfriends: Samantha in GA, Phoebe in WI, Diane in WI, Jan in CA, Ruth in WI, Jodi in CO, Rachael in MA, Angela in TX, MB in AZ, and there's even Carol in Slovakia! (Please don't be mad if I didn't list you! Just trying to pull a random sampling, sisters!)  She doesn't understand how my close friends aren't well... close!  The last time she was here I tried to explain that I DO have friends who are close geographically ... I then added that the world has changed and my neighborhood is just different from hers. Her response was "Only if you let it."  WOW.

CAN IT REALLY BE THAT SIMPLE?

So... back to choices.  I decided for myself that it IS that simple.  I reconnected with a dear high school friend... after a week or two of "Do I really want to go back there?"  I realized that there IS no going "Back there"... there is only going ahead and inviting someone to go with you.  That is what she was doing and in accepting her most gracious invitation we have started the journey of a brand new friendship...one that I count myself most lucky and blessed to have.  Carol - D'akujem. I can't wait for more letters! :-)

And there is taking a chance on a brand new face in a whole new neighborhood... that is Diane... and the seeds for this whole post!  In a nutshell, Diane and her hubs are much like me and mine.  She and I both struggle with health issues, hubs both work wayyyy too many hours and then bear the brunt of the house upkeep.  We're all about the same age but this lovely woman and her husband have a delightful son, Jack, who is 7 and he is DOG CRAZY!!!  He does not have any grandparents so I am his "adopted Ya-Ya", a status that I wear very proudly.  So... off go the Hubs, the puppy and I for a weekender to northern WI.  ...

We spent the entire weekend chatting on the family room couches while Jack rolled around, ran around, and generally played litter mate to our 3 month old puppy, Cullen.  Glenn and Diane had never been around a Corgi so they were quite amused, to say the least.  Jack made great  progress with Cullen - he taught him to go up (and, more importantly) DOWN the stairs!  We went to an area Farmer's Market and bought luscious fresh fruits and veggies ..which we promptly made into salads whose recipes we shared. 

Then, best of all, we spent an entire evening coloring together.  Yep, every last one of  us. Coloring.  Stained glass dragons, snowflakes and even Erte' women were beautifully colored in and held up for perusal and opinions in front of the table lamps during the course of the evening.  Tessellated designs and knights in armor made appearances soon after as the puppy went from couch to easy chair making the snuggle rounds to each pair of arms.  Easy laughter and soft conversation slowly became gentle hugs and wishes for nights of blessed sleep.  Jack gave one last squeeze to Cullen and off we all went to snooze away the night.  If it could only always be that easy...

Diane and I both know that we took a chance but we had the faith to do so.  We took a chance on opening up to one another and it worked.  I know things don't always go that way, but I am awfully glad they did this time around.  My neighborhood got that much bigger and I am grateful.  I got the chance to see the world for just a little while thru the eyes of a precious little 7 year old boy... and ai, yi, yi was that a trip! LOL  Wouldn't have missed it for the world!  I have another visit much like this one coming up in September... I am looking forward in faith that it will be just as much fun... and my neighborhood will grow again....because yes, it really is that simple.  

I'll leave you with three things tonight... First - the wise words of Mr. Rogers....

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you,  

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

 
So let's make the most of this beautiful day,  
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?

Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?

Secondly.... a little laughter with Jack and Cullen ....

And lastly,

            I wish you all great neighbors and wonderful friends
wherever they may be found.
Pamela

Life Is A Highway

  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.

Chick's Interuppted Buttons on Zazzle

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

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

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 Productions  Our 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!  :-) 

JustHatchedQuilts   Is 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

Click here for road tunes!  :-)

Life is a highway

She Had Such A Beautiful Face

 

“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 beautiful face….

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 beschm uggled 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, y ou didn’t!  OH yes, they did!  With promises of being a  ble 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

 

 

 

Cancer Sucks. Wanna Do Something About It?

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!

All of the Little Decisions - GIVE-AWAY!!!

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!

03 Vahevala

GIVE-AWAY *** GIVE-AWAY *** GIVE-AWAY

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:

1. _{LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTHOUSES & DID I MENTION LIGHTHOUSES? or}
2. _{SHIPS & OLD MAPS, or}
3. _{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.