About Me

This is how you say my biz name, Pamalama: "PAM - uh - LAMB - uh." It's a nickname my father gave me. I was the youngest of four children. When I think of my dad, I remember his love of nature and the outdoors, his incredible knowledge and skill set for surviving in the wild, and his passion for sharing the beauty of God's great creation with others. He loved animals, seashells, trees, and birds. He taught us children to treasure and protect nature. My business got its name to honor the memory of my father.

My mom encouraged me to create and be crafty. She painted, latch-hooked, crocheted, and stitched by hand and machine. When I was ten years old, we learned to crochet together from an elderly neighbor. She taught me to embroider and encouraged me to be creative in so many ways. One sweet memory is when she joined my brother and me in hand-painting a set of wooden Christmas ornaments. I still hang some of them on our tree each year.

Like so many others, I learned to sew in home economics in high school. Through my twenties and thirties, I sewed clothing for myself, my husband, and my daughters. Then, in 1996, during the summer when we weren't teaching elementary school, about a dozen of us teachers decided to learn to quilt. A nearby quilt shop was offering a block of the month called "Everyday Angels". Each month, we had to make just one appliqué block. "What can be so hard about this? It's only one block a month!" So we signed up, and well... Twenty years later, all of us are still quilting—and often, we are together doing it! Quilty friends are the best!

Grandchildren bring so many blessings to our lives. Mine also brought me my new business. I started designing original quilts and nursery decor for the grandbabies several years ago. Then, in 2016, a quilt shop manager here in San Antonio challenged me to write and print patterns for my ocean-themed designs. I took the challenge, and Ocean Friends was published in 2016.

I now have six appliqué patterns, and more are coming soon! Like my grandchildren, the business keeps growing and developing. I'm having a terrific time with it all. I hope my designs enrich your life as well.