A Puyallup Antiquing Jaunt!

Mary and I had a great time perusing a couple of antique malls on a drizzly rainy Sunday in Puyallup!

It may be liquid sunshine, but it sure gets you wet and chilled right through – so we took up the hospitality of the antique mall, enjoying their warm spiced cider and popcorn by the bag – and took a long “No hurry at all” browse up and down the aisles!

Now here is one thing that always befuddles me.

When you look at this photo what’s the first thing you see?

Books, books and more books!

How many of you noticed that there is a TREADLE MACHINE hiding underneath these books?

An Impossible-to-get-at treadle machine ---because of ALL OF THE STUFF piled on top of the cabinet!  And oh, yes, there IS a machine in there – I felt underneath…it’s there..but we just were just discouraged enough by all of the unloading we’d have to do to just say – sorry, Charlie! You just might have missed out on a sale!

((And I’ve seen Mary’s treadle collection….they really DID miss the opportunity for a sale here!))

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A Sunday Afternoon House Tour!

After Quilter’s Dream Retreat, Fall 2015 had come to an end, Mary and I had some choices to make.

What did we want to do with our afternoon?

It was a Sunday, some places are closed, others are open – and then there was that issue of RAIN which Mary kept assuring me was “only liquid sunshine!”

Oh yes, the Pacific North West, where most everything is “rain forest” and rain it does, often!

I was happy to say though, that the weather was beautiful all the way up to the time we left camp –as if the universe knew not to rain on our parade!

Antique Mall hopping?  Oh yes, I’m game! 

And as we pulled into the parking lot, I looked over and saw this huge mansion peeking through the trees….and we made a detour!

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A Broderie Perse Dresden!

One of our gals brought the most wonderful antique quilt top to show & share and I just went nuts over it.

We’ve all seen Dresden Plate quilts before – they were all the rage through the 1930s and into the 1940s.  A true classic of quilt making.

 But I know you’ve never seen one like this either!

The first thing I noticed was white fans on that typical sunny 1930s background.

And then I looked and thought all of those fans were fussy cut because they looked “striped” to me.

And when I got up close and personal?

Holy Moly!  There was a whole lot of fussy cutting of flowers and applique and embroidery going on!

We had to lay it out and get some close up looks:

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A Quilter’s Dream Show & Share!

What is a quilt retreat without show & share?

These gals have worked so hared to complete these beautiful quilts and it was so great to be able to see them and enjoy them and pet them all!

When you have 112 folks at a retreat – and everyone has at least a couple of things to share –you have to organize a system.

If your last name begins with A to L you get to show after dinner.

If your last name begins with M-Z  you get the next meal time as your turn for show and share.

And while not everything came out to the “official” show and share times because some folks had more than two quilts to show – there was CONSTANT show and share going on all around the retreat gym and in class!

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Sewing up the Scrappy Trips!

How many Scrappy Trips blocks can you make in a 3 hour workshop?

MANY!

And they are so fun you just can’t stop!  The proverbial potato chip, you can’t make just one ---and because EVERYTHING goes, you’ll find yourself wanting to play with more and more and more combinations, sewing up the fabrics and having a great time doing it.

If you haven’t made one, you need to!  If you have made one, but haven’t done another in a while –choose a different strip width and experiment!

You will find the free pattern for Scrappy Trips under the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog.

 

Two quilts, two different strip widths!

The small quilt with the red border has 16 blocks that were all gifted to me by many different quilters –the blocks play beautifully together because they are EVERYTHING!

The quilt with the green border was made using a bunch of 2’’ strips instead of 2 1/2’’ as given in the original pattern –because I HAD those strips to use.  I like the 9’’ block size!  The 2 1/2’’ strips will give you a 12’’ block size. 

Like them smaller?  Go with 1 1/2’’ strips and see how fun a Scrappy Trips quilt can be!

Press them out, girls!

Yep! they are having a strippy good time!

Daughter, Mother, Sister!

Great retreat memories being made!

All of our blocks laid out together!

See!!  EVERYTHING goes!

Great job, ladies!

I so love this photo!

But I love this wild and crazy one MORE!

Click the image below if you are unable to view the slide show on your mobile device.  You’ll be taken to the photo album for viewing.

Scrappy Trips, Quilter's Dream Retreat, WA 2015

Thank you for a wonderful retreat, ladies!

Here I am with Yo, the power that IS behind the retreat.  It’s been going strong for many many years.  On my other side is Mary, who has taken care of my every whim – including letting me borrow her featherweight so I could sew in the evenings along with everyone else when class time was done.  I LOVED feeling a part of this retreat!  Next to Mary is Vickie, a lady whose sense of humor knows no bounds and will leave you in stitches!  Together they make up quite the wonderful team!

And special thanks to this talented lady!

For years and years Margie has been in charge of making all of the name badges for all of the retreaters – just this retreat alone there were 112 name badges to be made!

Laure has her whole collection for the many times she’s attended!

MY Name badge for this year’s retreat!

Next year’s Spring Retreat is nearly full with a waiting list, and the badge making will start again.  I can’t wait to see what they will come up with for the theme, and design for the badges!

Again, thank you for including me and making me feel so welcome during my time here in Washington.

This morning Mary is picking me up to get me to the airport – we’ll stop for breakfast on our way and I’ll be off toward North Carolina, and in my own bed tonight.

Love from a drizzly wet Pacific Northwest!

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Quilty Box Drawing Time!

Hello from Puyallup, Washington!

Quilter’s Dream Retreat of Fall 2015 wrapped up this afternoon with hugs and tears all around.  It’s been a retreat to remember, and to hold in our hearts!

After all was packed and put away, my cohort and event assistant, Mary drove me out of the gates of Camp Arnold and pointed her trusty quilt-stuff filled Explorer toward Puyallup.

We spent the afternoon antiquing, touring, and dodging the late October rain that she simply refers to as liquid sunshine.

I’ve now been dropped at my hotel for the night –I’ll be heading to the airport in the morning.

But before I get completely into relax mode, we’ve got a drawing to do!

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A Playing With Jacks Kind of Morning!

What a great time we had yesterday in our Playing With Jacks workshop!

Getting a group of 42 quilters together, and showing them how much fun it is to play with small little blocks and all of the different things you can do with them is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.

Having the opportunity to do it in the shadow of Mt Rainier tucked away at Camp Arnold outside of Eatonville as part of a retreat with 112 in attendance?  AWESOME!

And doing it ALL in quilty jammies?  PRICELESS!!

Playing with Jacks is something that SOME of us grew up with, but many of us did not.

I remember jacks being around when I was a kid, but I remember being much more interested in Barbie and the many outfits we could make for her from my mom’s sewing scraps.

Margaret brought something very special to class yesterday:

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A Quilter’s Dream Retreat, Indeed!

This is how things are when you get 112 quilters from all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada together in one place for a long weekend Quilting Bash!

Retreat is held twice a year at Camp Arnold, owned by the Salvation Army.

What a great facility!  We are having an amazing time!

The retreats have been going strong for close to 20 years now, and have been in this location for just about that many years and they have seen the camp change and improve with new facilities, great meals and the most beautiful landscape!

You can find out more about future retreats on the website HERE.

Last night I had to run upstairs to get some “Over the top” photos of just what goes on here!

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Smith Mountain Morning Day, Washington Style!

Hello from the land of tall evergreens and gorgeous snow capped mountains!

Hello from 111 quilters having the time of their lives sewing up a storm and enjoying all manner of quiltyness!

I grabbed 42 of these wonderful women for a Smith Mountain  Morning workshop yesterday – setting up in the classroom space that is attached to the dining hall at Camp Arnold.

Needless to say, we spilled over and flowed into the dining hall as well – when it comes to quilters, we will expand to fill any space we are given, much like the properties of foam insulation.

But what a fun day!

They were ready, they were eager, and most of all ---they were here to have a good time!

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Quilters, Take To Your Stations!

Quilter’s Dream Retreat in Eatonville, Washington!

111 in attendance!

112 – if you count me.

I have NEVER seen such an incoming of tables, machines, bags, boxes, wagons and truck loads of STUFF!

Are we here only for 3 days?

I think these gals can stay for THREE WEEKS easy and still have enough left over to keep themselves happily busy for a good long time of sewing together.

Remember the people watching thing from the airport that I posted yesterday?  Oh, there is so very much people watching going on here –friends greeting friends they haven’t seen since the LAST retreat held in the Spring –and then there are the newbies who found themselves swept right up into the fun and excitement of a long weekend of sewing together.

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A Day to Get Here!

Airports full of early morning travelers, headed to wherever they are going.

It seems I’ve spent more time in airports lately than I have spent at home!

One of those things I love to do is  to really people watch.

Humanity is an amazing thing.

As I stood in line to board my flight, there was a Chinese family – an older mother, a daughter perhaps in her 30s, and you could tell they were on a long journey.  Passports in hand they made their way up to the gate agent who scanned their tickets, all the while, an older man – probably the husband of the mother was talking to them rapidly in Chinese –hands were waving “Goodbye, I love you!” Smiles and last farewells as the mother and daughter made their way, soon out of sight down the jet bridge.

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Another Quilty Box Give-Away!

This drawing has ended!  Congrats to our winner!

Guess what I came home to on Monday night?

Another Quilty Box!

This time we’ve got some special goodies for you –gathered together by Angela Walters of Quiltingismytherapy.com!

What is a Quilty Box?

• Quilty Box is a monthly subscription box. They offer plans from $44-48/mo.

• 5% of the profits of multi-month subscriptions are donated to Quilts for Kids - a non-profit which donates quilts for children in need

• Each month we have 4 or more products (Fabric, patterns, thread, or notions)

• Our retail value of the products in the box is always more than $50

Your support is appreciated. If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank You,
Patrick Claytor
Owner - Quilty Box
Subscribe today at www.QuiltyBox.com!

I think the thing that makes me feel the best, besides the fact that these are items I WILL use –is the knowledge that 5% of the proceeds go to help kids in need.

Make more quilts, cover kids with love.  It’s all good!

This month’s goodies!

Angela’s Story!

Four delicious shades of gray fat quarters from Angela Walter’s fabric line, Drawn by Robert Kaufman.

A Modern Twist book by Natalie Barnes with Angela Walters, published by Martingale.

3.5 ‘’ Drunkards Path template set by All Things Acrylic

2 spools of Aurifil thread

I’m rushing to catch a plane to Seattle this morning so I’m going to get this Give-Away going with no muss, no fuss!

So let’s offer up one Quilty Box to one lucky winner!

Leave me a comment in the comments section below.  Leave your email address in your comment. It must be visible.  No email address and I’ll have to draw someone else. If you are commenting as anonymous, please also leave your NAME.

If you don't know how to comment, click the Blog Helps tab at the top of the blog and look for the article I wrote on commenting.  It will help you!

If you are worried about spam you can write your email address out like this:  quiltville (at) gmail.com

We’ll let the Random Number Generator do it’s magic in deciding who our lucky winner will be!

We will draw for our winner on Sunday evening  from my hotel – I fly back to NC on Monday.

And yes – this Giveaway is open to EVERYWHERE, not just to the USA!

Ready? Get Set –Comment!


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Quiltville Alaska Cruise Update!

Those of you who have signed up, or were thinking of signing up for my Alaska Cruise in July of 2016 are going to be excited to learn that we have changed our travel plans!

When I was first asked to teach on this cruise, it was with the understanding there would be 4 instructors –and the 2 full days at sea would be filled with 4 3 hour workshops, and the students would rotate from teacher to teacher to teacher to teacher.

That is an awful lot of moving of quilters and quilt stuff around on a ship.

While on the Caribbean cruise a couple of weeks ago, we experienced MY favorite way of cruising, where I was the ONLY instructor and we were a retreat at sea –I had 50 cruisers –and once they chose their work space in our beautiful conference center classroom, that was THEIR spot for the entirety of the cruise.

They could leave their stuff without having to haul it.  They could come and go and do ship activities as they pleased, fitting in the sewing when they could and when they wanted.  They had their stations as their own.

It was a totally fun and RELAXING experience.

I received a phone call the morning I was leaving to Maine asking me if I would be up to doing the Alaska cruise by myself as the solo instructor.

I gave it a resounding YES!  A full week on one project is much better than 4 3-hour mini workshops and fighting for a machine to sew at during open sew time after dinner in the evenings.

One cruise, one class, one project. This is just my preferred way to cruise.

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A Return to Threads Galore & Quilt Inn!

Meet Carol and Dan Perkins!

The owners, creators and powers that be behind Threads Galore Quilt Shop and their retreat house, Quilt Inn in Rangeley, Maine!

They are the folks that put on TWO bang up retreat seasons each year covering a week in April, and TWO fall sessions in October.

Yes, they are doing it again this coming weekend, and Dan will be teaching his magic to a whole new bunch of retreaters that will start coming in on Thursday and sew through the weekend, just as we did.

I LOVE their shop, built on to the back of their house, Maine style!

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Quilt Camp Memories, October, 2015!

It was bitter sweet as we gathered on the back porch on a chilly October Sunday with blocks and pieces and parts – and very full hearts – to take our group photo, culminating Quilt Camp 2015.

What a FUN group of ladies!

And the leaves that you see here at 9am on a Sunday morning, were ALL on the ground by 5pm on Sunday Night!

They don’t call it FALL for nothing!

Tables were cleared one by one as the ladies packed up machines, fabric, notions, tools, lights, irons, pressing pads, design walls ---leaving only Karen and myself to stay one more night at the Inn.

How quiet it can be --- TOO QUIET when everyone had left!

But I will always remember these ladies like THIS when I think of Fall Quilt Camp 2015:

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Galaxy-Gram! The Last Quiet Evening!

Well, everyone has left and gone their separate ways home wherever there destination may be.

The only two left here are Karen from Virginia and myself, who will be sharing a ride and making our way down to Portland for our respective flights out tomorrow afternoon.

There has been a long afternoon nap.

There has been some sewing of pieces while watching the swirl of snow flurries from the large picture windows of the inn, with Saddleback Mountain in the distance.

Yes, the mountain tops are showing white with a dusting of accumulation.

We are enjoying some toe warming in front of  the  roaring fire built in a rustic stone fireplace that dates back to the 1920s.

One more night tucked under trunk show quilts, and we will wave goodbye to this idyllic spot and make our own journey toward home.

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Quilt Bandits and a Whole Lotta Fun!

We woke up to snow this morning!

It actually started falling yesterday afternoon, and it was coming down pretty good, but it was still too warm for much to stick until temps dropped cold enough to save a bit for us to enjoy this morning.

The sunrise was magnificent, and I bet anything that all you see here will be gone by 9am.

Retreat is coming to a close by noon today, and all of our Happy Quilt Campers will be headed their various destinations – some home to Vermont, to Massachusetts, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, New Hampshire, not to mention from the four corners of Maine, and me from North Carolina!

I have had a wonderful time with these gals, and they have worked so hard and accomplished so much.

Did I mention we had two projects running at the same time?  Each retreater could choose one of two projects, either Talkin’ Turkey from String Fling, or Split 9 Patch from the Free Patterns tab.  Some are doing both – using the Split 9 patch as their Leaders & Enders while putting Talkin’ Turkey blocks together!  ((It’s a win win, and we’ve got converts to the Leader & Ender train! Hooray!))

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Snow & Other Shenanigans–Quilt Camp Style!

Can you see the snow?!

It’s not sticking here, but it is in the mountains!

Look for the little white flecks that look like dust…uhuh!  It’s snowing!

All of this added to the festive nature of Quilt Camp, and the ladies have gone giddy.

There are manay shenanigans happening, including this one from last night:

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Quilt Camp Show & Share!

We love Show & Share time during Quilt Camp!

This all happened after our first dinner together, gathering in the sewing room for inspiration and explanation – every quilt comes with a story!

Often, the quilts shown on Thursday evening are those that were finishes from previous Quilt Camps, and as Quilt Camp has now been going for 15 consecutive years, those UFOs can have quite the long life line!

Along with past retreat projects, some Quiltville quilts came out to play, and I’m so happy that the retreaters schlepped quilts along for me to see.

This is Christy’s Sister’s choice…can you see how she made TINY 9 patches to use as cornerstones in her sashing?

This is such a happy quilt, all from scraps – I just love it!

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Take A Walk in the Woods!

Several of us broke away yesterday to take in the beautiful fresh air and the unbelievable colors that are peak perfect here in Rangeley, Maine.

We’d been sewing for hours.  Dinner wasn’t until 6:30pm – so before it got dark, we donned our jackets, hats, gloves and headed out.

A whole string of us cackling our way down the street, circumventing the edge of the golf course where sea gulls and Canada geese had flocked in  to land in pockets, watching us with curious stares on our way.

The air – it smelled so good!  How can I describe it? That smell of birch leaves, wet and yellow on the forest floor, mixed with the scent of balsam fir, ever green?

Earthy.

Whole.

Essential.

Why can’t we bottle this and keep it?  No, candles and sprays and bags of potpourri can mimic, but never match the distinctive smell of a forest floor as the world quiets down in preparation for a long winter to come.

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A Day to Play in Maine!

Welcome to the Country Club Inn in Rangeley, Maine!

Six millionaire sportsmen built a private lodge and 9-hole golf course in the 1920’s. They located it on a 2000’ promontory, with massive fireplaces and 360 degree views of the lake and mountains. In 1950, twenty guest rooms and the dining room were added and the golf course was sold off separately.

It was turned into an 18-hole public course, with the first tee still just being steps away from the Inn.

In 1975 Bob & Sue Crory purchased the property and named it the Country Club Inn. They use their many years of Innkeeping experience to make it a sophisticated little resort catering to only 40 guests desiring casual luxury, tranquility and warm hospitality. They raised their children at the Inn, and in 1995, their daughter Margie and husband Steve Jamison purchased the Inn. To this day, Margie & Steve are now raising their family at this Inn, and are continuing to carry on that special magic that Bob and Sue Crory created.

And we are are here in this beautiful space in the most wonderful time of the year with 20 quilters for a fabulous scrappy weekend retreat!

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Good Morning, Rangeley, Maine!

Isn’t this just beautiful!?

This is the lake right in Rangeley – I got to join for breakfast with the Coffee Klatche girls for breakfast at 6:45 am, just when the world was awakening around us!

I sat in the window, sipping my pumpkin spice tea, watching clouds float in one direction, while flocks of birds flew low over the water in the other direction –honking “Good Morning!” to the beautiful new day.

It’s a bit of a rush morning here – I’ve just grabbed a shower and we are heading over to the retreat location at the country club where 20 quilters are arriving from all over.  We’ve got tables to set up, we’ve got stuff to do!

Registration for fall quilt camp opens at noon, and our workshop starts at 1:30pm on the dot and I know they will be anxious to get set up.  I can hear the laughter and the greetings and the “Hey! I haven’t seen you since last year, how are you?!” ringing already!

Quilt camp has been going on in Rangeley, Maine for 20 years now!  I’m so happy I get to be a part of it.

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Galaxy-Gram! Hello, Maine!

I have arrived safe and sound in Rangeley, Maine!

All luggage is accounted for, and flights were on time and nothing out of the ordinary caused frustration or held up my arrival.

The colors here are absolutely stunning!

The last time I came during October, I had missed the peak of the season by about a week, and the trees were nearly bare.

This time, autumn is holding nothing back and showing me her full regalia of color!

As I am out where phone connections are slow, and I can't seem to get connected to the Wi-Fi, I am sending you just a few shots to whet your appetite.

Doesn't this just make you want to dig into the autumn colors in your stash and piece up a fall splendor quilt to capture this beauty?

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Bye Bye, Quilts!

Yesterday was a day for packing up quilts, making sure they had the proper labels attached, and that includes taking “snapshots” and printing out photos of the quilt along with any area that you want for a particular detail shot, and pinning the snapshots WITH the image form, to the quilt.

This is new for me..I’ve usually just labeled the quilts and sent them off, letting the photographer decide the best way to display or zoom in on any particular area.  I’m afraid my instructions are quite vague!  There are some wide area snap shots that simply say “BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER!” on the detail tag.  How am I supposed to know what will be the best area to focus on in the end for the book?

This process happened yesterday for all 12 book quilts.  And since there were a few snap shots on my phone from taking these, I thought I’d share them with you!

This is the bottom right corner of Jingle Bell Square, currently featured in the Nov/Dec i2015 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.  It should be available near you!

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Yesterday was THE DAY!

Guess what started yesterday at Craft U??

My online course is live!

And I forgot until part way through the day – I haven’t had a chance to watch much of it yet, but I can say that the folks at Craft U did a good job of taking this Nervous Nellie and made her look like she knew what she was doing! HA!

I’m posting this for those of you who may have purchased my workshop, to REMIND YOU that it’s time!

You simply need to log into your account at http://craftonlineuniversity.com/ and the workshop will appear in your dashboard.

The videos are there for you to download, the download button is at the bottom left of your screen.  Those with slow internet connections may do better to download it to watch it than to try to stream it.

There are 6 lessons provided – it is supposed to be a 6 week series, but I know some of you who are going to want to watch it from beginning to end all in one binge!

I suppose that is okay too.

There is also a link to download the pdf copies of your patterns and your “homework”  though how much you decide to do is up to you – there is no one grading you!

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And We are HOME!

I’m feeling just a bit like this right now!

My To-Do list after a trip is always longer than my arm, and EVERYTHING has a deadline.

That’s just the way it is for EVERYONE after a trip, isn’t it?

Not many of us get a vacation to recover from our vacation – we get thrown right into the fray!

I leave WEDNESDAY for Maine!

I thought it was THURSDAY!

No –the retreat starts Thursday, I have to fly on Wednesday.

Yes….this from the brain who nearly forgot leaving myself a pair of pants on Saturday night so I  could leave the ship on Sunday morning fully clothed! LOL!

The first thing I do when time is short like this is make a list of what has to happen, and what can be pushed to the next time in between trips.

I spent last night and a bit of early morning time this morning doing this:

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And We Say Farewell!

I’m writing this from port in Port Canaveral!

We have just docked, and my shuttle leaves the pier at 7:30am so I have some time to get this written, and send it out on my mobile hot spot, saying GOOD BYE and GOOD RIDDANCE to really expensive wifi that was slower than dial up and takes 3 hours to upload a post!

But I’m grateful for it none the less, no matter how long it took for a post to go – it allowed me to stay in touch not only with the blog, facebook and instagram, but with family and friends far away.

Technology is still amazing – even if it doesn’t work as fast as we want it to!

Yesterday’s  workshop day for our Garden Party Quilt was a simple one – we worked on the pieced setting and corner triangles, making them out of our left over units and strips and squares from the alternate blocks we had made the day before.

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Quiltville Cruise, Day 6!

Hands down, this has been the BEST CRUISE EVER!

I think loads  of the ladies would agree with me.

Besides the beautiful weather and the gorgeous ports of call, what did they like best?

The ability to choose a machine to sew at ALL WEEK LONG and not have to move rooms or stations.  I agree!  It’s been so laid back, and they have had so much production time around all of the other ship’s activities that everyone has gotten SEW MUCH DONE!

This happens when I am the only teacher on a cruise.  We can’t take as many students on board when I am the only teacher, but that allows me to spend as much time with each and every one.

Yes, we weren’t able to make our first port of call in Coco Cay due to the rough seas and inability to tender in to the island, but that just meant an extra sew day, and we were all happy with that!

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Some Views from St Maarten!

It’s hard to see but this is “almost” a sunrise on a cloudy and a little bit rainy day upon our arrival in St Maarten!

I’ve been getting out early every morning as often as I could to walk the track and greet the new day.

However, yesterday I decided to take the day “OFF” as a rest day, and instead of going ashore, I stayed on ship to catch up on some sleep, some hexies, some quiet time away from the maddening crowds.

I don’t regret my decision!

We had purchased an ATV excursion, but after the heat and the humidity of the day before in St Thomas, the last thing I really wanted to do was go ride out into the HOT with a helmet on my head.

Instead, we sent our Janome machine tech and all around bobbin boy out to take my place and he and The Hubster had a great time riding 4 wheelers all over St Maarten, both the Dutch side, and the French side.

Sometimes you just have to take a TIME OUT.

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A St Thomas Day Trip!

We had a beautiful day yeserday in St Thomas, Virgin Islands.

But let me tell you, it was hot hot hot and humid!

It’s hard for me to imagine this little island getaway as part of the USA…but as soon as you hit port, you WILL see American flags flying --

And much to the delight of my 50 cruisers who had either AT&T or Sprint as their cell carriers….they were able to check their email, text messages and phone calls to home because they had coverage here!

God Bless the USA!  Ha! ((All of that stuff is important you know?!))

And then there are people like me who have Verizon, and have to wait until we reach our lunch spot to have access to the free Wi-Fi to check in off ship!

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Good Morning, St Thomas!

We arrived in St Thomas this morning, and I’ve got 50 cruisers plus 18 spouses and friends that are ready to disembark and have some island time today!

There are many excursions to choose from, something for everyone.

I’m going with a group on the 5 star Island tour which sounds right up to my liking with 2 hours of shopping time, and 2 hours of beach time.

That’s about all I can handle…...let me tell you, it’s hot hot hot and humid here in the Caribbean!

As always I am amazed by the crystal clear water – the sheer aqua color of it.

It’s just gorgeous here!

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Bonus Class Afternoon!

And they are off and making blocks on a bonus sewing afternoon!

When we got the announcement that we would not be stopping in Coco Cay due to rough water following hurricane Joaquin, as it was not a safe place to put out tenders from the ship, the phone tree started to send messages to all of the quilters that class would begin yesterday afternoon at 1pm.

I can’t say that there were many grumbles at all!  Most of us ARE here to retreat at sea, not sit without machines on a hot and sweaty beach getting fried!

Everywhere I went, every quilter I passed was so excited to have an EXTRA class day on the ship  and we were out to make the most of it.

This means that I could break our project down a little bit further so there would be no stress, no rushing, just a lot of fun and easy sewing and being with each other, making new friends.

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