Reclaimed Fabric Creations: Friendship, Partnership, & Community
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
Looking ahead to our third holiday season with Just J & J Reclaimed Fabric Creations, I’ve been thinking how much this little business has grown—and how grateful I am for the person I get to share it with: my wonderful friend and business partner, Jo-Ann.
She is one of the most patient, kind, hardworking and creative people I know. She has an incredible ability to look at a piece of fabric and imagine what it could become. Some people might call me the cat lady, but I'd call her the scrap lady!
Something found at an estate sale, thrift store, or on one of our fabric-hunting adventures can suddenly become an apron, quilt, pillow,
or something completely new, like our Not Your Favorite Jeans Tote Bags.
She puts so much thought and care into everything she creates. There is truly love behind it. Of course, being creative partners also means we have opinions! We don’t always agree on patterns, colors or designs.
One of us will hold up a fabric and say, “I LOVE this!” while the other gives the look that clearly says, “Absolutely not.” Sometimes one of us is convinced an idea will never work, but after moving things around, changing a fabric, adding a detail and laughing about the whole thing, we somehow end up saying, “Okay…that is really cute!”
I think that’s part of the magic of Just J & J Reclaimed Fabric Creations. We each bring something different to the creative process, and in the end, we usually come up with something neither of us would have created on our own.
One of the things I admire most about Jo-Ann is her heart. She genuinely loves creating things that make other people happy, and she cares deeply about being part of our community.
Some of our favorite Just J & J memories have come from community events like the Tigard Farmers Market and the Annual Tigard Street Fair, where we get to meet people, hear their stories, and watch someone discover something at our booth that makes them smile.
And we’re especially excited to return to the Farmington Gardens Holiday Market as we celebrate our third holiday season of creating together!
People see the finished pieces, but they don’t always see the hours of cutting, sewing, measuring, changing our minds—and occasionally taking a seam back out!
Through all of it, Jo-Ann works incredibly hard and puts so much care and love into our J & J partnership. But most importantly, she makes it fun. We laugh a lot. We encourage each other. We occasionally drive each other a little crazy. And then we laugh some more.
Jo-Ann, thank you for your friendship, patience, kindness, creativity, and all the love you put into Just J & J Reclaimed Fabric Creations. I feel incredibly lucky to share this adventure with such a wonderful friend.
Here’s to our third holiday season, more community events, more beautiful creations—and definitely more conversations that begin with:
“Trust me. These fabrics go together.”
I can’t wait to see what we create next!
— Julie
Thoughtfully handmade. Created with friendship. Made with love.
I love a business that is created for people by people and who genuinely care about the most important commodity in the world: people! I’m blown away by your partnership together- 2 independent, intelligent, entrepreneurial women who enjoy their business partnership together with who is the creative heart and soul with her amazing, crafty creations, and the other one with her wordsmith creativity and savvy marketing and technology skills! No wonder you both have so much fun running a business such as this because everyone can see that it’s the recipe for the most wonderful creative, and successful community business!! Congratulations ladies on having a business that you both love wholeheartedly, and it, at the same time is creatively giving…