Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year!

The extended family had other plans but my kids and grandkids were here and we had a great time!  Lots of food!  On Friday we did a little shopping to see what the kids like and then took in a movie.  It was A Christmas Carol 3-D with Jim Carrey.  We did NOT like it.  I have seen many versions and this was definitely the worst.  Too scary!  Lyndey hid her eyes a lot.  And they used a lot of the text from the book which was a little hard to follow, especially for the kids.  Not a feel good movie for the holidays at all.  We did take the kids to see Planet 51 earlier in the week, thank goodness.  That one was delightful!

Now to take down the Thanksgiving decorations and get Christmas started!!

Embroidered Bookmarks!

Just made these neat little MAGNETIC bookmarks on my Bernina 730e!  Are they bookmarks or bookmarkers???  I never know for sure what to call them.  The design called them bookmarks, so that's what they are today.

They embroider as one piece, you add the two magnetic strips and the top folds back to catch the pages in a book.

Things I'm learning with embroidery projects--no matter how small you think the project is, always start with a FULL BOBBIN.  And each one of these bookmarks takes almost a full bobbin.

My non-embroidery friends are amazed that these are just thread--no fabric.  I love the different designs.

My granddaughter, Paige, is here (school's out in Texas the whole week of Thanksgiving) and she wanted to make one for her teacher.  So she chose purple thread for the background and away we went.  She couldn't believe the sewing machine would make lace by itself.  I love to share my sewing and crafts with her.  She's always willing to try my projects AND I get to do some fun stuff while she's here.  Brother, Jake, is into computers, so that keeps him busy.

The picture is not too clear UNLESS you click on it and that magnifies it.  You can then see the images better.  Don't know why.  I'm hoping Santa gets me a new camera for Christmas.

A few more stocking stuffers done!

Take Five

Today I finished putting the borders on this quilt. Talk about a quick quilt, this is the one to do!!

A friend and I are wanting to do some pro bono quilts to bust our stash and wanted to try this pattern.  We took our fabrics AND scraps to our local quilt shop (who by the way, donates her AccuQuilt to use for pro bono projects) and used her "Take 5" die to cut enough for five quilts in short time!  It takes longer to line your scraps over the die than it takes to roll it through the cutters.

I'm so impressed with that machine.  She has multiple dies to cut--squares, triangles, dresden plate, and strips in several sizes.  She rents the machine out for $5 an hour if you are a guild member.  It is definitely worth it.

My friend, Nita, has made one too, also using just five fabrics which the pattern calls for.  BUT, in an effort to use those small scraps of fabric we have, we have chosen 12 fabrics instead of five and going to make some really scrappy.  We'll see how those turn out.

Scrap Therapy

Recently I attended a class of "Scrap Therapy".  I won this class at the Ultimate Embroider Seminar I attended a while back.  I was planning on taking the class with a friend earlier and we had to postpone, so it worked out well.  I got to go free--always love that.  Of course, it cost me anyway I had to have some patterns.

Basically, the idea is to get your fabric scraps cut into workable sizes.  Then they have patterns (if you need them) that use the 5", 3 1/2" and 2" squares.  Once you have the squares cut, you just grab the plastic shoebox which they give you with the  class and start sewing.  Someone once told me that those scraps are still just as expensive as when you first bought them in bigger yardage.  USE THEM UP!!

We also got to use the quilt store's AccuQuilt cutting machine too. Wow!  You can cut 10 layers of fabric and the 5" cutter has 8 squares.  That's 80 squares a cut!  That's the way to go if you have many blocks to cut and so accurate.  The quilt store lets you rent the machine if you want and I plan on doing it.  Much  cheaper than buying the machine.  lol

The time you'll save using this machine will get you sewing so much quicker. What do you think our grandmothers would think??  I like to think they'd love it.  Scrappy quilts here I come.

Travel Trays

These little fabric trays are addictive.  I have made seven so far and plan on making more for little Christmas gifts.  They make up very quickly too!  When we took our cycle trip recently, I took a couple with me (gave one to my friend) and they are so useful.  I can't tell you how many times I have almost lost jewelry because I either forgot it OR  knocked it off the dresser.

The tray keeps things--jewelry, coins, glasses, etc. in one place and won't get knocked off and lost.  When you are ready to leave, the trays lay flat and can be packed in your luggage and hardly take any space.  The neat thing is that you could make these in any size you like.

The instructions for these nifty little things are on Angie's Bits and Pieces website:

http://ajpadilla.com/patterns/bom/christmas-all-year-round/travel-tray

Her site is great and has lots of patterns, tutorials, and freebies.  She has given me permission to post this, check her out!

Halloween Pics!

Julie and Tom had a family Halloween party in Texas.  It was a family party and all the guests dressed for the occasion.  They had a ball!  Tom fixed up a spook house in the garage--strobe lights, fog, etc. I guess all the kids loved it.  Sure wish we could have seen it.

The "rock group" looked great!  Jake and Paige were really loving it!

My nephew and his wife and son live in the area and they got to go.

 Timmy, Jessica and Matthew--The Flintstones!

And here in Perry, my daughter and granddaughters dressed up too!

Stacey, Kayley and Lyndey!  What a trio!  Don't they look cute!

Motorcycle weekend trip!

Over the weekend, my husband and I rode 662 miles on our Yamaha Roadliner!

Some good friends of ours invited us to ride with their Gold Wing club to southeast Oklahoma.  There were 10 vehicles-- six Gold Wing cycles, three Gold Wing Trikes and us--the LOUD BIKE.

When we left at 7 am Saturday (Halloween) morning it was 44 degrees!  Brrrr, it was cold.  We were prepared though.  I had thermal pants, jeans and chaps.  I also had a t-shirt, long-sleeved t-shirt, sweatshirt AND my leather jacket.  Thermal liners under my socks, two pair of gloves and a fleece hood really kept my neck toasty.  I felt like that little boy in "A Christmas Story".  LOL  You definitely wanted to give yourself plenty of time to go to the bathroom!!

By the time we got home late Sunday afternoon, the temp was 74 degrees.  It really turned out to be a wonderful fall trip.  The good thing about layering is that you just peel off a layer as the day warms up!

Now about those Honda riders.  Rob, my husband says they were really a great group of people--despite what they rode.  : )   He has always driven a Yamaha (he has had five) and loves them. He kept "revving" up his bike to tease the other bikers.  You know the Gold Wingers are known for being very  quiet AND comfortable. I was a little envious of all the comfort those ladies had. 

We would really like to have a trike.  As you get older, thats the way to go!  Only thing is Rob won't give up his two wheeler and we can't afford two cycles, so it's probably not going to happen.

Our friends had gone on a ride with our Yamaha club a couple of years ago and our group had told them we wouldn't hold the fact that they rode a Gold Wing against them, so all the teasing from both clubs was in good fun.  Motorcyclists are a great bunch of people!