Summer Sale

Hello Members and Friends...

Just wanted to let  you know about my Etsy Shop Summer Sale in case you missed it elsewhere.

Hot News for a Hot Summer.  Think Cool and check out the Christmas and Fall items in this great sale.   You can also check all the other items while your there as I am having a  Summer Sale of 25% off everything in the entire shop.  No exclusions. Sale runs from July 14 to August 7, 2015.  

Just head on over to http://www.etsyonsale.com/shop/GoodiesByJamie and do a bit of armchair shopping.  You'll find all sorts of beautiful and useful handmade items for you to enjoy and perhaps fill a need for a gift for a special occasion or just as a present for yourself.  I'd love to have you share this message with your friends, co-workers and neighbors when your done.  Everyone loves a sale!!

I'll leave you with my motto...Please think of GoodiesByJamie the next time you need something Useful, Beautiful and Handmade.  And Happy Shopping! AND Thanks for visiting.

A Milestone Event in the Life of a Happy Quilter

I have a story of beauty and preservation that I really need to share.  A few months back I was approached by Carol Taylor, the daughter-in-law of my dear friend Lyndol Taylor, and she asked me if I would be interested in making a quilt for her and to use some lovely embroidered pieces that her grandmother, Leona Collins, had made 50 years ago.  After looking at the pieces I agreed to design and piece the quilt it for her.

After hours of thinking how to bring out the beauty of these beautiful handmade pieces we decided to stay with the Vintage look and used 30's fabric in tiny 2" squares which would allow the embroidery pieces to shine.  Not wanting it to have a structured look, I set the blocks at various heights and sewed partial seams to get them to fit correctly.  It was fun.  We then sent the quilt to a long armer to do a simple meandering stitch throughout the pieced block area, but around each square as the fabric was delicate and we didn't want any problems.  When the quilt came back from the longarmer I sewed the binding on and hand stitched it.  Voila, beautiful!  But the quilt was still not finished.....

Lyndol thought the squares needed something more to finish them off so she took the quilt home and spent the next few months hand quilting inside the embroidered squares and the result was stunning.  So stunning in fact that Lyndol and Carol decided to enter it in the West Houston Quilt show that was coming up in a few weeks.  We were all thrilled when it took Honorable Mention in the First Time Entered Quilt Category.  

Here is a pic of the quilt with the four of us taken at the show.  Lyndol is on the left, Carol with a picture of her grandmother Leona and myself...

Here are a couple of pictures showing the embroidery in clearer detail.  Beautiful Work!

It was certainly a pleasure working with these great friends.  I'm sure that Leona Collins is very pleased with the results.  

Thanks for stopping by.  

Carolyn, aka Crafty Jamie, proud owner of my Etsy Shop "Goodies By Jamie".  Here's the link if  you would like to visit GoodiesByJamie.etsy.com

The Story Behind the Quilt

I get asked so often "Where do you get your patterns from?"  Good question.  I love to glance through magazines and mail catalogs and have gotten many of a pattern from them, bought patterns occasionally, but the biggest source is the Internet.  I spend many a happy hour perusing the web and checking out my favorite web sites but the best quilts and ideas come from fabric manufacturers who give their patterns away free (oh how I love free) to advertise their new designs.

I have been quilting long enough now though that I can usually just look at a pattern and visualize it in my colors and set down with a graph pad and draw up either a block or a whole quilt.  It's such fun and an enjoyable way to spend an hour or so over morning coffee or a glass of wine in the afternoon, which brings me to where I found the quilt that I just finished making.  Where you ask?  Well....Hanging on the wall of the ladies room stall that I was occupying.  I happened to glance up and there was this lovely sampler quilt and I was immediately drawn to it.  There were lovely quilts hanging in each stall 😳The next week when I went to my Wednesday afternoon Bee I took my iPad and snapped a picture of it as it had been messing with my mind since the day I saw it.  

I came home, printed the photo and blew it up so I could see it a bit more clearly.  There were 20 squares which I cut up into 20 pieces and went to town with it.  Actually I didn't go to town, I attacked my stash and came up with a jelly roll that would totally do the trick.  I love working on coordinated fabrics.  Two months later the 20 squares were done, every one different.  There are a few repeat designs but all the colors are used differently.  It was an amazingly fun quilt to piece and watch those squares come to life.  I've tried to name it, but can't come up with anything and I doubt the "Quilt 'n Sew John"  would be appropriate.  😣  So here it is for all to enjoy.  If you like it as much as I do, you can find it on my Etsy shop at www.GoodiesByJamie.etsy.com.

Pretty, isn't it?  

Thanks for dropping in.  

Results of Cochlear Implant

I know it's later than June 1, but things came to a dead stop when I had some very unexpected medical problems which resulted in surgery for a Pacemaker implant for this gal.  All is well now and the Cochlear implant was rescheduled and activated on August 28th.  And Yes! a miracle happened.  There was sound in that ear where there was none for over 50 years.

Oh, I have a long road ahead of me retraining my brain to understand words and sounds, but now 2 short months after the surgery I am actually having conversations with my neighbors, my family, my doctors, sales people.  I still wear the hearing aid in my right ear but I no longer need the FM hearing equipment nor the Boogie Board that folks wrote me notes on.

Everything is wonderful and I want to apologize for not getting back to you all sooner, but...time passes so quickly these days and I have been so busy having fun.  But I am back now and I promise to write more often.  I have plenty to show you and I'm quilting up a storm.  I joined a craft group here in the complex on Tuesday afternoons and have my two Quilting Bees on Wednesday and Thursday, so things are definitely looking way up.  Now to find an older man who is interested in some companionship and life would be complete.  I rather like living alone, but it wouldn't hurt having someone to go out to dinner with or hang around with.  It's not going to happen and I'm only dreaming, but it's nice to think about.

I would like to show you  my latest accomplishment.  It will probably go up for sale on Etsy but right now I want to enjoy it.  It is by far the most intense pattern I have ever made (and the most expensive) but it was something I have wanted to do for years and years, so when my local quilt shop held a class on making the Feathered Star Wall Hanging I was a goner.  

For your enjoyment, I present my interpretation of Judy Niemeyer's Feathered Star...

Well, all for now and thank you so much for stopping in.  

Happy July 4th

Can't stay long, but I will be back with you all.  Just wanted my followers to know about the special 4th of July savings I am promoting.  Hope you all take advantage of it.  Just visit GoodiesByJamie.etsy.com and have a great handmade shopping experience.  

Just add Happy4th in the coupon code box if you decide to place an order.

Thanks in advance for your interest.  Catch you soon.  

Life Change Coming Up...

I hope I don't bore you all to tears, but I will be going through a possible total life change on April 30th.  As some of you know I am extremely hard of hearing and that problem has gotten worse in the last year till it's almost impossible to understand the spoken word and I am withdrawing further and further away from contact with most everyone except family and close friends.  Thank God for my iPad and my Closed Caption Captel Phone and my quilting.!!!!   

I have worn a hearing aid since I was 27 years old, 79 years young now, and  as the hearing slowly receded I reverted to wearing an FMStereo system about 6 years ago.  This worked for a while, but now, it is beyond being acceptable so my next recourse is a Cochlear Implant if I want any betterment (is that a word? ) to my quality of life, which I certainly do.  My brain is young, my hands are nimble and I'm agile enough for my age to not want to curl up and hibernate for what time I have left because I can't hear.  It's time to socialize and enjoy the rest of my life.  

The result of this, after 3 years' consideration, is that I am scheduled to have a Cochlear Implant on April 30.  I am writing here on "The Meanderings" to bring hope and Faith in the Almighty to anyone that is going through what I am right now.  So....I'll write and update you all as things progress and hopefully, if everything is successful, a celebration worth celebrating!!!!

I may be able to hear the spoken word again, enjoy a movie and TV without captions, listen to a good thunder storm, hear my music again, hear my great grands voices, hear the birds sing, oh...the list goes on and on....just things  you get used to not hearing as your hearing gets worse, and worse, and worse.  There is hope and I'm going to share that process with you.  If it doesn't work, then we will grieve together.  

I have had my tests and shots and everything is set to go.  I'll get back to you on June 1 and let you all know how things went.  I won't know if it is successful until one month of healing has gone by and they are able to activate the implant that they have implanted in my brain.  If  you are not aware of the implant process, just Google Cochlear Implant and read all about it.  Dr. McReyolds has done 1700 implants with a 95% success rate.  So, I'm very hopeful that all will go well.  If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for me and let's all hope for the best.

Later my friends, and thanks for stopping by.

Just Felt Like Chatting

Good morning and a good morning it is too.  Texas is still in the grip of cool and rainy weather with a nice promising of spring thrown in every once in a while.  My old home town's of Lincoln, RI and Statesville, NC are not doing much better.

Lot's going on here in Jamie's quilting studio, testing patterns, working on current ones, finishing others.  This is actually part of my living room.  It is such a convenient spot with plenty of light.

I have started livening up my Facebook page where you can see all my newest creations.  With collaboration with my daughter, Shirley, we have opened up a new section called "Touch of Faith" that features quilted bible verses and other inspirational sayings that make wonderful "everlasting" gifts.  I'd love to have you go on over there and like the page.  Just press the Facebook line in blue above and away you go.........

I start every morning off with a couple of cups of coffee while reading a dozen or so quilting blogs  and Facebook pages to keep up with what's going on in the world of quilting, fabric, new patterns and just plain enjoyment.

I would like to recommend one that is very interesting that is written by Bonnie K. Hunter, one of the most fascinating blog writers that I have come across in a long time.  Her blog is called Quiltsville.    She is the author of "Leaders and Enders" and several other great books.  Celtic Solstice is one of my favorites from her blog.  It was a mystery Quilt-A-Long (QAL).  if you would like press the Quiltsville blue above and press the line under her heading.  She also has some wonderful free patterns.  if you enjoy her blog, go on over there and tell her so.

It would also be great if you would be so kind as to leave a comment below and let me know if you enjoy reading about great blogs and patterns that definitely made my bucket list.

Thanks for stopping by and remember when you want something beautiful and handmade, visit GoodiesByJamie.etsy.com