First Border Plus New Project

The first border is from the same 2 1/2" squares that I swapped with my wacky buddies. I'm thinking of placing a 1 1/2" black border next, followed by a floral border which I have not chosen yet.  Maybe I need  to visit my local quilt store.......hehehehehehehe

As most of you know, a few months ago, the Wacky 6Pack lost one of its members to cancer.  We often think about Jerri and her great antics.  The woman was truly something else.  At our retreats we drink to her and laugh at all those great jokes she told.

Jerri and I bought our Janome 11000s at the same time from the same store.....actually Jerri talked me into buying the machine...(that's my story and I'm sticking to it)....

Anyway, I've had the wonderful machine for a little over 2 years.  I was exclusively using it for embroidery until my wacky girlfriend Annie (no blog....can you believe that) told me that I really needed to start sewing on it.......I did as she demanded.......LOL....and yes, it sews like a dream but embroidery is a passion of mine, it's in my blood.  I've become an embroidery addict and frequent MANY embroidery sites....some of you know how that is........

Where was I.......oh yea, back to this wonderful machine....Annie mentioned that I should be able to stitch out photos with it.......that was months ago......okay, so I had to allow the thought to stew a bit.  I decided that my first project would be dedicated to my friend, Jerri.  I found a picture, fiddled with the shading using Picasa 3 (don't ask, it's a photo storage thingy from the net), scanned the image into my Janome design thingy, added stitches, blah, blah, blah, blah........and stitched it out.  See the steps below and if you really want details of each step....let me know, cause that will have to stew in my little, pea brain for awhile.

The final measurement is 5 inches by 7 inches.