Lots to See and Do on A SUNNY Cruise!

I just could not get enough of the wonderful happy paintings on the cruise...this was at a restaurant in Costa Limon and we went in and sat down and they made us move and then we asked for menus and they said the manager was writing them up in the backroom...we left, it was weird. Happily we went to a beautiful beach for a lovely lunch-better place and they had printed menus! haha.

This is Christine Porter and Karen Buckley on our way shopping and looking. I wish I looked as good as they do in warm weather clothing....isn't this a good photo of Karen?

Since house quilts seem to be the rage, I thought I would share this photo of house painting and scultures...such pretty colors! I didn't buy a thing....

I love the colors of the buildings and wish I could get away with this in my city...it isn't going to happen

beautiful colors!

Karen sitting and waiting for the taxi-they had a square there with lots of men just sitting in the heat doing nothing and the music playing was LOUD and fast and crazy -it was fun at first and then it kind of got on your nerves...do I sound like my Grandmother?

For anyone who has cruised you know that there is a towel animal on your bed everynight...a different one each day...It is fun and makes you happy

All of the trees there are filled with fruits to eat...these people eat lots of fish and fruits and evgetables....they are poor but in some ways they are rich-the children are adorable

In the front here is Amy who is in charge and Kim in the red who is also in charge of the quilters who cruise there. They are fun, easy going and do a great job. 

Here I am in the middle with the girls from Sask. Canada- a fun group who were always laughing and doing fun things-they make you a Canadian wanna be

Here is Amy and Kim again and the lady on the right is from "Quilts Northwest" quilt shop in Seattle. I spend alot of money there when I am in town.

The lady in the middle is Kathy Kansier (she slammed her finger in the bathroom door the second day and was in pain alot of the cruise though she didn't complain) the other teacher on the cruise and her husband (who had a great sense of humor)on the right. This was the Grand Poobah table...we sat on the other side of it....

The table above was fun because it was one man who came with four lovely Port Townsend ladies-I asked him if it was his harem and his wife said "I am the only one he sleeps with." They are holding hands because I think it was their anniversary. Each person in their group was delightful.

And finally the "art" room. If you cruise you learn that they try to sell paintings to anyone who will come in and listen to them....

And the other things they try to sell is jewelry-diamonds of every range and lots of them in a big store on the ship-I took a quick photo of this cool necklace and got out of there lest someone try to sell it to me....It is blue agate (I heard the guy the day before trying to sell it to a man....I guess he decided against it. :0)

So really if you decide to cruise, there is lots to buy and lots to look at and there are chairs on the deck to sit and do nothing or read or quilt or dream while you look at the clouds and drink a cool drink...I did some of that too
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On another note here is the Lemonade Quilt about my daughter and her friend- Pam Dransfeldt quilted this and once it is home it will get buttons for flowers and eyes on the animals....I think the quilting is beautiful and the subject of the story quilt is dear to me and my children too.

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And finally a great idea for Mom's. This is for kids who are afraid to sleep in their bedrooms for fear of what is under their beds or in their closets. Put a sign over your Lysol and spray it under the bed and in the closet...fun idea!This was NOT my idea...I made my own cover and gave it to my daughter...you can make your own cover too and put it on any room spray....pretty fun!

 

Quilt Cruising Brings Beauty Each Day in Different Ways

This painting was in lovely Costa Rica. I was lucky enough to visit with Karen K.Buckley and her husband Joe and Chris Porter and her husband Neill. Both of the husbands had fabulous camera systems and they loved to take photos (me too) so the trip to me was a huge success. Joe dickered a deal for us with a taxi driver who had two wives. The guy said the women hated each other and didn't like that he had two wives but he said "that's just the way it is going to be!"

The house at the top was a painting on a wall and it is screaming to be a quilt I think....

There are lots of things for sale and they all look beautiful because of the sunshine and light there...then you bring them home to the Northwest and they don't look as exciting. It is enough to enjoy the beauty of the things there, the people, the people you are with and the things that God provides for your senses (LOTS). Being there is wonderful.

Above was part of a display they had by one of the bars on the ship...I thought it was beautiful.

Above was a sign for a bar...I love signs and often take dozens of photos of just those.

On one of my days off, I just walked around the ship and enjoyed the ocean air and the beautiful sky and clouds...different each day

This was the name of the ship I was on. It doesn't look that big but up close it is HUGE and you are up so high from everything as you look out the windows or walk around the outside.

I was always amazed at the color of the water and how it changed...all beautiful colors that only happen where the sun shines it's brightest.

This is one of the pools...I waited for everyone to leave to get a good photo.

This Starbucks was the most beautiful color of blue! I "think" this was in Costa Rica. The coffee tasted just like at home.

Bags are for sale everywhere....they look beautiful there and taking a photo was as good as buying it and putting it away in a closet....

I LOVED these morachas and if it were not for the fact that my Grandkids would use them everytime they came over, I would have gotten them. The lady in this photo would NOT look up for Neill Porter no matter how much he begged her to. He wanted her photo. I was happy with the morachas.

We all wanted a photo of this beautiful lady. We all told her how beautiful she was and she was really a lovely person too. Happy to pose for photos. I did buy a Curaceo bracelet to take apart for a quilt I am working on from her and then I tipped her too.

These types of painting were everywhere...I loved them but not in Washington State

I loved the color of this van in the sun!

Here is the teacher Chris Porter with the beautiful woman....two beauties

Just took a quick photo of Aruba off the ship- I didn't get off there

I thought this painting on the side of a wall was quite beautiful. There are paintings here and there like this and that day a huge dump container with garbage was in front of the nice paintings...it was smelly but the beauty of the paintings was more important than stinky garbage for a short time.

If you ever want to go on a beautiful excursion, the Panama Canal Cruise is lovely and you do get to visit many wonderful and beautiful places.

Quiltcruises.com

Quilt Cruise with Mary Lou and Crazy Cats made for alot of fun and creativity too!

This is an example of a "crazy Cat" from the book "out of the box with easy blocks" by me and Mel McFarland. I taught the class on the cruise ship, the Zeiderdam this week while sailing the Bahamas. It was wonderful. One woman only brought enough fabric to try it out and here is her wonderful and happy cat! Not so craZy right?

Above are close sisters Martha Stewart (YES you read that right and her sister Marsha. Marsha was a patient and kind sister who took time out to show Martha how she did the techniques...I was impressed with their love and devotion to one another. Martha told us that she was invited to THE Martha Stewart's show which invited all Martha Stewarts from the US and Canada. Pretty wonderful.

Here was the beginning of the lovely and Out of the box cats that students made...as they finished a cat, they put it up....

Above is Terry who you often see on my blogs. Terry is a positive, fun optimist who everyone loves to have in class....she is always fun and her energy makes us all happy. Note the cat bowl with the fish in it in her wall hanging she has here....

This is Nagela and her Mother who took my cat class. They are from Brazil and they are wonderful and beautiful...photos don't do them justice. After beginning the cat quilt,Nagela AND Nagela's Mother finished it in their cabin by hand! This was totally "out of the box" for them as they love precise stitches and perfect blocks and points ....I think this is perfectly wonderful! And most of it done with nice stitches by hand....wow.

We had such a NICE group of people on this cruise. To find information, go to  Quiltcruises.com

I am not scheduled for another cruise and hope to be invited again and hope that if I am YOU will join me for the fun. Good friends, good food, lovely locations, adventure, comfort and all around fun. AND Kim and Amy who run it are nice, positive and fun.

We went to Panama, Costa Rica, Curaceo, Bonaire, Aruba, and other places and quilted when we weren't off the ship (the Zeiderdam). Delicious food, shows at night, beautiful water, friendly people and things to see and experience each day.

If you took any of my classes on the cruise, I would LOVE to show your project here on my blog.

Creating with Wool, cotton light giving stash of different scales and the color of the year....I must add greens, turquoises and fushias to it on black!

Finished my Folk Art Fish and started another one....this is so much fun and I will be offering a workshop on wool and how much fun folk art can be. Stay tuned....maybe your guild would love a workshop in this.

Different stitches and how to's on embellishing make this all so much fun!
Plus everyone who sees this hanging on my wall wants one!
For those of you going on the cruise to Panama, this will be class for 15 of us! Can't wait for wool and cruising too!
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Color of the year- Tangerine Tango-these fabrics were a gift from Molly for my birthday. I am going to make cats head out of them...I think that will be perfect.
I had a teacher in school that said your eyes read color better horizontally than vertically....you be the judge here. I am doing the cats in the "Out of the Box with Easy Blocks" book-so fun and they always get rave reviews....try them-easy, inventive and fun

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A nice fabric stash of lightgivers and different scales does alot for fun blocks for border or quilts for your walls or beds. I started making these blocks this week and have a great quilt that these will border. I have enough to begin a wall quilt for my entry too-if you take a workshop from me, you know we are going to talk about what a GOOD stash entails and mistakes people make when they buy the wrong fabrics. Yes you can actually buy ones that don't do what the good ones can!

There are dozens of blocks here and as I ironed I just piled them one on one...wait until you see the finished product! So creative, fun and a recipe for a great quilt! If you do civil war as some of my friends do, you might now like this...."Smile"

I wanted to post this on the side but it was too big to so I am posting it here....pretty cool place right?