More projects....

A couple of latest projects was helping Rebecca put a “finishing” touch on an Activity Blanket for a good friend from College.  The recently had a 2^nd boy, so she made a blanket for the floor that they can play with their cars on.  I used my new machine to do a “car” topstitching around the edge.  Soooo cute if I do say so myself!

Then she machine quilted the outline of the road to give it some character.  Now if I could just find the material again, I have some added feature ideas to “enhance” to project…like add buttons, ribbons, and even make it easy to roll up or fold up for easy storage.  I’ve gotta find this fabric!!!

Another project idea was from Rebecca with the help of http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/.  She just turned me on to this blog and they have some really great ideas.  You know you always have the dilemma of “What to do with your Christmas cards when the season is over?”  Well I do!  I usually just keep my favorites, especially the pictures, and just pack them away with my Christmas stuff until next year.   Rebecca took the idea to make a book of them, so I did mine from 2011. 

 I even made cute envelope pockets to put my Christmas letters in.  I used my new scallop cutting blade to add a nice touch.  Now I just need to go backwards a few years and make a really BIG one.  I have cards back to 2004.  I wish I had some older ones, but I guess they have gotten tossed thru the years.  I think I will do this every year and we can reminisce every year.

Scrapbook projects from the Cruise

When I went on the cruise, I was able to get about 22 pages done plus finish a Disney book for the kids to look at.  The Disney pictures are from our trip in 2007 when Cameron & Kaiden were little.  This was a class project from CKC last year and I just finished it with the pictures.  Here are some pictures of the book.

Here are some of my favorite pages I did on the trip.

         Dewberry Farms (2010)…(we didn’t make it there in 2011)

                                          Pops and the grandkids...

                                                      4^th of July…                                          

  Maggie’s “Princess” party…(Bekah is both Cinderella & Aurora)

I still have much more to do to finish out 2011.  Guess I better get busy!  Thanks for looking at my work.  

Travel in 2011

More projects to come, but I wanted to share my exciting travels from 2011.  In late April I had to attend a work conference in Orlando, FL, so David went along with me and we visited Universal Studios to check it out.  We have been to Disney a few times and plan to return this year with our kids and grandkids depending on babies.  Although I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter, my oldest grandson Cameron is.  I have to say the entire park was amazing, especially that part.  Here is a few pictures.

In October, we went to San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley/Sonoma area of California.  We never thought  we would be caught in a snow storm on our way to Lake Tahoe, but they had their earliest snow fall in many years.  We were truly on an adventure!  We saw most of the usual sites in San Francisco; toured 2 wineries; and drove up the California coast line.  Beautiful country!

In December, I had the opportunity to go on a 7 day cruise out of Galveston to Roatan, Hondurous, Belize, and Cozumel with my friend Debra.  One of the best parts about the trip... it was a Scrapbooking cruise!  We had about 24 ladies to get to know and scrapbook with.  Most were all from Texas and several from the Houston area.  It was a little challenging to deal with the movement while concentrating and looking down to scrapbook, but we managed just fine.  I got 22 pages completed and Debra did about 14 pages!  She gets motion sickness pretty bad and was going to be happy to get just a couple done, so to get 14 done was amazing.

We don't have specific travel plans set form 2012, but tentatively will be traveling to Midland in February or March for Brady & Erik's birthday, then Disney in the Fall.   We have grand baby #6 coming in May and #7 in July.  No plans to travel during that time, except to Midland in July for #7!

I'm back......

So...it has been way too long and I have been out of the Blog world.  I have been very busy with all my grandkids, traveling, scrapbooking and of course work.  I recently went on a scrapbooking cruise which was quite a treat.  We are expecting our 6th and 7th grandchildren this year.  My daughter, Bekah is expecting her 3rd boy in May and wanted to started working on the room decor.  I am currently sewing machine poor as I have a collection of machines that I just can't part with.  Unfortunately, not one of them will do all that I would like.  I have an antique Singer that was my great grandmother's, but I don't sew with this one.  I got my grandmother's Elna last year and after having it checked out, I have actually sewed on it several times.  It does have some issues with the bobbin and can be frustrating sometimes, but I would NEVER part with it!  I also have my Mom's old Kenmore that actually still works, but I haven't used in several years, so it needs to be serviced as well.  I also have my portable Singer that is several years old.  It works pretty well, but not so much for the heavier projects.  Long story short...I decided to get a new Viking Sapphire 835 machine.  I got  a floor model at just about 1/2 price!  It is basically a computer which is a little intimidating, mostly because I have never used one like this.

Bekah came down last weekend and we gave it a try.  She even wanted to learn and did very well.  Just takes practice!  She chose a "Robot" theme...actually I think Kaiden & Zachary helped choose the theme.  I wasn't to sure at first, but after seeing the fabric & colors, it is going to be so cute!  Below are some items we made.  There are more to come because we are not done yet.

  Burpie that Bekah did most of it herself.

"On the Go" blanket.  My first time to work with "minky" fabric.  A little challenging!

Taggy...this was my first one and it was pretty easy to do.  I think I'll do more for gifts.

I also make a UT blanket and Nursing cover for a friend of mine that was having another grand baby.  I would not normally do anything UT, but I did for her.  I didn't get a picture of the Nursing cover, but it was the same fabric and just like the ones below.

UT Blanket.  This was actually my first item to make with my new machine.

More projects to come!   ~Jeanne