A Day in St Maarten!

Our last port of call! St Maarten has an interesting history and government arrangement..two governments, actually. There is the French side and the Dutch side! I’m not sure how they make that work, but evidently it DOES!

This was our one BIG excursion day! Lori had arranged for us a snorkeling tour. We were off the ship early, finding our way to where we were to meet our Taxi driver by the designated time at the right place.

And off we went! Here are our two ships at port…our Carnival dream, dwarfed by that Oasis of the Seas…Man that thing is HUGE!

The first thing I noticed? We were back to driving on the RIGHT side of the road! ((As opposed to the LEFT, not the WRONG….;c) ))

St Maarten if you are speaking Dutch, St Martin if you are French or English speaking…it all sounds the same, it just looks different!

About 40 of us split up into 3 different boats and our guides took us out into open water! We bounced over waves, got splashed by water coming up over the sides of the boat, and the only thing missing was the theme song from “Miami Vice!”

The view behind our twin engines as we left port! Hold on to your hats, peeps, it’s rough water out here! Actually one passenger lost his --- and we had to circle around and retrieve it! Our guide was quite adept at hat recovery!

Oh the sun and those ocean breezes! Got the sunscreen on? Oh yes ---we are ready!

And I’m getting splashed and soaked by that wake and it feels so good anyway….we are having a ball just on the boat ride alone!

Look at this! This was one of the areas we stopped to snorkel…and the water was so cool and refreshing, you almost forgot about how hot and potent the sun was..almost!

Here our guide led Lori and I and a few others to an area where we saw a huge tiger ray just swimming gracefully along the depths. We saw all kinds of fish, these black/yellow stripey ones were so cute and plentiful!

from there we loaded back up and headed to a secluded beach where our guides mixed up a “mud bath” for us…..and we dug right in, spreading it over arms and legs, shoulders, face and even hair…..We were told to let it bake a while and then go rinse off. I couldn’t believe how soft our skin felt by the time we were done…..

And after this….Sun Screen Application #3! However, by this time I already had a sneaking suspicion that it was a lost cause. Salt, Sand, Sweat, Sea water and mud bath….I don’t think that ANY sunscreen can combat these elements completely!

We were back on the boats and headed to a fun little island getaway……..We didn’t have long to stay there, but oh how I wish we did!

One of our other boats just behind us…even those clouds didn’t help the sunburn from coming on!

Won’t You Take Me To…..”Tiki Town!” ((Sung to the tune of Funky Town!)) Look at this water! It was shallow all the way out and it was so lovely!

By this time I was staying in the shade of our boat driver’s seat…but what fun everyone else was having just floating around in the cool clear water!

After our boating excursion was over…..we headed into town for a bit of lunch and shopping. Our Taxi dropped us near the down town area and off we went……This building really has Dutch influence!!

Our view down one of the little shopping streets…..by this time I was also on the look out for a pharmacy and some aloe gel!

Got your “Quilters Eyes” on? Look at this counter at the restaurant we stopped for lunch at!

And these were the steps up to the patio where we ate! I love traveling with my Quilters Eyes WIDE OPEN!

As we walked ourselves back to our ship, I took in the view….people and families swimming and enjoying each other. The sounds of live music playing around us. The contrast of color between the red umbrellas and the aquamarine sea.

St Maarten, you are a beautiful beautiful memorable place, and I hope to visit you again some day!

A Touch of St Thomas ---

I’m still going through cruise photos! Every port was a different adventure, how can I put it all into so few posts?

There is something other-worldly about going to sleep at sea, and waking in a different port each morning. I’ve also wanted to travel by train that way…with a sleeping car, something I’ve never done, but we’ll save that for another adventure.

As I awoke on this particular morning this was the view that awaited us outside our balcony door:

The sun was just shining on the water..the decks below were still empty of passengers. We got up about 6:30am each morning to go power walk the deck and plan our day ahead.

We could see land in the distance, but this morning was a later arrival, so we had time to do our “Thing” and get breakfast and shower before we reached port! I’d never been to a US Virgin Island before…and it seemed strange that this little piece of paradise IS part of the US! But even the license plates ((As shown above)) say so!

First on our agenda? A short hike into town to go buy our gondola tickets for a ride to the top of the mountain. Many were hiring taxis to drive them to the location where the gondola started, but heck…it wasn’t THAT far, was it?

This is from the top…..looking down on the gondola cars as they come up the hill..can you see our ship WAY down there? It was the perfect vantage point!

This was the view from our gondola window…climbing higher!

At the top…I had NO idea that St Thomas was so mountainous, or that there would be so many different coves and inlet/outlets. IN the far far background I think you can see the cove where Oasis of the Seas was anchored/docked/moored whatever you call it!

Lori at the top of the observation area…what a backdrop for a lovely lady!

Can you tell from my plastered sweaty hair and my drippy sweaty neck just how HOT it was already this morning?? But what a view!

Just LOOK at that water….and yes, it really WAS that color! If not even more vibrant in person.

Here I caught a b it of the tram wires, the ship, and the Ferris Wheel in the pic…..

From the tram, we hoofed it into town, in the heat…carrying our bags with our beach gear. We were bound and determined to spend some sand time, but we didn’t want to take an excursion with 3000 other people to a big fancy beach. We wanted local time….so we asked a guy at the local watering hole who was manning the bar ((He was originally from CT and had been there in the islands over 10 years and never missed being stateside!)) just WHERE would be the best place to go. He told us to take a taxi, it would run about $6 each, and to head for Lindbergh Beach. Near the airport. Lindbergh/airport..get it? I did!

But first..a bit of wandering around town. Some shopping, some lunch…and then we’d go!

Got your “Quilters Eyes” on? Look at the color in this pic of this interesting OLD OLD building. I have NO idea what this building was or what it was used for, but that vibrant red against the turquoise sky just does something, doesn’t it?

US Post Office! Look at the mailboxes, don’t they look familiar? But LOVE LOVE the mustard yellow building with the green shutters and white trim, and more of that blue blue sky.

Quilters Eyes Wide Open notice the FABRIC sign right off! But it took LORI to point out what was in “small print!”

It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to! LOL!! So what was inside??

UUUUmmmmm…claustrophobia!! And heaven forbid you don’t want the bottom bolt! There were not a lot of quilting cottons, but mostly dress making fabrics of the non-wrinkling slinky kind. Still fun to see though!

But this is what we wanted…to be away from town, to be away from tourists….and it only cost $6 bucks a piece to get there!

Further down the beach it was kind of resorty, but not as populated as the OTHER big beaches. And I really wouldn’t want to STAY here…because, as I said, it is VERY close to the airport….there were planes taking off and landing quite close by. But still….we even found SHADE…under a sea grape tree!

We don’t have sea grapes in North Carolina, at least not where I live! These things are huge, and really interesting looking.

See how large the leaves are? It was a boon to find this spot right under the tree and enjoy our beach time.

That little head in the center is Lori..LOL! It was shallow all the way out that far! And the water was cool and refreshing. We took turns so we could each stay with our “stuff”.

I wanted to get BOTH of our feet in there, but Lori said she does not DO feet and to keep her feet out of it…so here are mine, in the blue blue aquamarine water. BLISS!

When we’d had enough, we caught our taxi back to the yacht haven walk so we could walk our way back to the ship from there. It was a SUPER GREAT memorable day! And I know I’m leaving out parts…just trust me. GO!

And with that, I’m off to Wichita…catch you from there!

Orphan Afternoon!

Yes, there were a gazillion other things I could be doing….I still have two quilts for the next book to finish, I was cutting for them like crazy last night…..but today when I was typing up itineraries and stuff for this Kansas Trip that begins tomorrow, I thought of a handful of “Scrappy Trips” blocks that were in the orphan box….Poor lil things! All gifted to me at various times by quilters who either had one too many, or didn’t like the colors, or they weren’t quite the same size as the others.

I'm teaching this class on Tuesday...and don't you know it, if I just sew these together I'll have a second sample! Makes sense to me, does it to you?

Why is it when I have a bunch of other deadlines and things looming…I am so EASILY side tracked into playing with something else? Is it just ME?

I laid all the blocks out on the floor. OH MY. Could this work? Some were very…well…dull and brown! Some were bright and wild, and some were just "sweet"…uhhhh…Let’s just say there is a reason they were tossed out gifted as orphans! LOL!

And then as I was laying these out, I was thinking how each one was just like an individual person. Some made with newer fabrics ((Newbies on the block, the young ones)) Some made with tried and true old calicoes that had been hanging around a long time ((old pros!)) Some happy, some sad, some with REALLY SCANT seams..some with…well, lets say GENEROUS ones.

A little pushing, a little pulling, a little easing, a little stretching…..and you know what? It’s not perfect, but they are better together than they ever were apart. Not all seams match. There may be a few "crows feet" ((ie: puckers!)) Isn’t there a life lesson in there somewhere?

I added a purple inner border and a red outer border. I tried a gazillion things, but anywhere in the quilt there was purple, there was also red, and it seemed to tie it together. My kitchen floor is NOT that yellow…but cameras do funny things. SO I took it out to the front porch to see how it would photograph out there:

Well not so great, I can’t get away from shadows…so how about we try the quilting machine?

Ah, that’s the ticket, but you can’t see the top border! Funny thing is, once it’s this close to being done..there is no stopping now. Time to get it quilted before dinner? You bet!

I think you can see some of the wild fabrics going on in here….

Close up of the stitching detail! Oh, those purple pin dots bring back so many memories of 1983!! I had YARDS of this stuff!

I’ll likely work on the binding for this tonight. I’ve still got some packing to do. I’m off to Wichita in the morning!

Sail and Sew!

29 Quilters with sewing machines humming and fabric flying..how fun is that?!

I was definitely having a “pinch me” moment when Jim gave us a tour of where we would be…there was an official “SIGN” and everything!

The room was large, and Sue of Citrussewandvac.com was here with beautiful Janome Horizon machines all set up for our use!

After seeing how our luggage was handled, piled into huge crates and lifted with fork lifts to be placed on the ship, I was sure glad that we didn’t have to BRING machines. Can you imagine? This was wonderful. In fact two of our quilters were extra thrilled because this was the machine they had at home. They love theirs, and were able to help us with questions when Sue was busy helping someone else.

((IN fact, she gave us a cruise special, if anyone wanted to purchase the machine on ship, it was $1,000 off retail, free shipping, didn’t have to claim it in customs, and no sales tax. What a steal! I bet if you contacted her, she’d offer you the same deal, there were some unclaimed machines when we were done….going fast I’m sure! The direct phone number is (352) 726-9743 No affiliation, just a very pleased cruiser passing on the info!))

This was our room! There was more light in here than it looks, it’s just that we were inside and I was taking pics without flash.

		Caribbean Cruise, Aug 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Those coming on the November cruise? Sue is providing machines for us too! However, that is a smaller ship, so I’m not guaranteeing this much space--And! We are not sharing the whole project at this time because we want to keep it exclusive for those traveling in November.

My favorite afternoon? THE LAST DAY! We stopped class at 3pm so Sue could start packing up the machines. We went for TEA in the dining room. A full fancified English Tea!

Do you see these yummies? Could YOU choose just one? It was a delightful way to sit and share and visit with all these women that I now consider close friends! ((Yes, I know, more gratuitous food pics, but…isn’t it gorgeous?!))

After tea we found a place on deck to squeeze into and spent the rest of our time before our last dinner just doing handwork and enjoying each other’s company, totally UNPLUGGED. We talked, we laughed, we reminisced about our favorite aspects of our week together and plotted and planned to do it again as soon as we can!

Sarah and Kathy sharing a cozy lounge! I met Sarah while teaching in Texas this past February. I was with Kathy’s guild in Alabama in May? Or June? And here they are, now knowing each other! This is another thing that just filled my heart….those I knew from all over the country are now friends with each other too. It’s WONDERFUL!

Emily or “Auntie Em” as I started calling her, and Lu…just chillaxing on the deck!

Emily, Lu, Sherry, Ada, and Suzy!

Bare feet, busy fingers, and a full service bar…LOL!

This was the most relaxing afternoon!

Some questions from excited November Cruisers have come my way, and I thought this would be a good place to post some answers to your questions!

• Will we be able to use the sewing studio and sewing machines after class hours?

There will be designated sit and stitch times, but some of our locations will not be available 24/7 as they are used for other ship’s activities. We encourage you to participate in the ship’s shows, highlights and activities as well as sew. There is time for both! On the August Cruise we had sit n stitch each night after dinner from 8pm to 10:30pm. You could choose to participate or not, you could go see a show, go to the comedy club, go dancing, enjoy some quiet time on deck, it’s YOUR CRUISE you don’t have to be chained to your machine 24/7.

• How much space will the sewing studio have? For cutting, layout, squaring up? Design wall?

A small cutting mat that fits in the bottom of your suitcase is sufficient. 12” X 12” or 12” X 17” or so is fine. As I’ve not taught on this next ship before I am unsure of the answers to how much space we will have or if there is room for a design wall. If you wish, you can pack a small flannel backed table cloth to lay pieces out on.

• Will there be a quilter's shop on board, for fabric, thread, notions purchases, or must we bring all that from home?

There is no “store” on board. Please bring what you need for your projects with you. I will have some books with me. Pat Sloan will also have “some” items with her, but come prepared.

• Will we be using office type adjustable chairs, or banquet chairs? Should I bring lumbar support, and a seat cushion?

We will be using the chairs the ship provides. I assume they will be similar to what you see in pics above. If you need a lumbar support bring it. You can also use the pillow from your cabin.

• Can we safely store our quilting supplies in the sewing studio, or must they be kept in our stateroom?

Because these rooms are available for other ship activities you must keep your things with you when you leave the room. Keep it all in a small rolling tote and it is easy to transport!

• How much cool/cold weather should we expect to pack for?

Weather should be warm by the time we reach Florida. But it is going to be November in Baltimore when we leave. I’ll pack a bit for both….but I’ve cruised the Caribbean in December the week before Christmas in the past, and it is still summer down there in December!

• Are any special side trips planned on our stops to visit with quilters,
  quilts and or quilt shops?

I am unaware of special side trips. There is so much to do in the Caribbean! Do a google search for shops before you leave from home. A Taxi can always take you, but from what I just learned on my last cruise, when we hit port, everyone seems to pair off with who they are traveling with and choose different shore excursions. You are free to do what you want, snorkel, sight see, shop, eat, and if you wish to track down a fabric store as some did, you are welcome to. At this time I am unaware of where fabric shops might be at these ports of call as I’ve never taught on this route before.

Are you getting excited? We’ve got twice as many quilters going on the November cruise as there were on the August one since Pat & I are team teaching! You will have two days of class with me, and two days of class with Pat! And we are going to have a BALL!

Start the count down! I’m ready!