Once upon a time, in American Canyon, California, there lived a girl named Jamie Glenn (That's ME!). My mom was friends with Walt and Kathy Jenny (neighbors), and sometimes asked their kids to babysit us while they would go out. So Emily and Josh Jenny sometimes came to watch my brothers and me. I thought Emily was SOOO cool. I kinda had a crush on Josh and would get embarrassed and shy when he babysat us, but I digress. ;)
One time when Emily was babysitting us, (Emily was a teenager) she drew this artwork for me.
I remember her just sitting down and free-handing this, my name, in several fonts. I also thought it was SOOO cool. I'm not a pack-rat AT ALL, so it's kind of a miracle I still have this. I found it in a binder I used in elementary school to keep all my awards and certificates. My mom delivered it to me several years ago as she was trying to rid her house of all the junk we kids had left behind.
<<<Fast forward 20 or so years>>>
We meet again! We both have new last names. Emily followed her artistic and creative dreams to become a successful quilter, pattern designer, and fabric designer extraordinaire. I have always admired her creativity and I too, followed an artistic path, taking art classes through high school and into college. My career path then took a pretty drastic turn toward nursing and midwifery, but I have still dabbled and frolicked in creative endeavors in my adult life.
Emily's mom and my mom, Kathy and Shawn, were walking around the neighborhood one day discussing my family's recent decision to enter the world of quilting/fabric/sewing. Before I knew it, Emily Herrick sent me a message on Facebook, asking me to elaborate on my quilting hopes and dreams. She also invited me to her house, to which I graciously and happily obliged! We toured her studio/work space and talked about how she started her company, Crazy Old Ladies. She told me how she got started in 'the biz' and gave me some great guidance as I get going with my quilting dreams. We also talked about midwifery and babies, one of my other favorite subjects. Is there anything more fun than sitting with another woman and discussing fabric and birth stories?? I think not.
What are we to learn from this little story? Babysitters change lives. And diapers. (Just kidding). The Jenny family is very artistic and creative. The other brother that babysat us, Josh, went on to work as an artist for Pixar and has probably worked on tons of movies, but the one I know for sure is the movie "Up". Walt (Emily's dad) is also a creative genius, skilled pianist, and amazing photographer. His career most of the time I knew him growing up was staging displays for retail stores like JC Penney.
Kathy Jenny has many talents, including baking and decorating beautiful cakes for weddings and other special events... When I was at Emily's house this month, one of her sons and her daughter were making play dough creations while we chatted. Apparently the cake decorating genes also run in the family...
It was so great to re-connect with Emily and be inspired by her. She sent me on my way with some goodies to get me started in my creative journey: A book she designed a mini-quilt for, called Fun-Size Quilts,
Some fat eighths of her gorgeous new fabric line for Michael Miller fabrics, Rustique,
Some fat eighths of S'more Love by Eric and Julie Comstock of Cosmo Cricket for Moda,
Fat quarters of Maasai Mara by Dear Stella designs,
and last but not least, fat quarters of Wildwood by Erin McMorris for Free Spirit.
Can't wait to get creating with these fun fabrics!
Thanks again, Emily, for the advice and the goodies. Follow her, everyone. She is amazing. I hope I can be like her when I grow up. :)
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