My Day, My Day, It's all about me!

Here I am!! As a lot of you know I love to travel and I love, love to  sew!  I have sewn since I was a  young girl.  My "I't all about me" combines them both.  Within the last two weeks I was on a quilting cruise. What more could a person ask for, quilting and cruising at the same time!

I have my sunglasses and name tag and I am ready to go.

I am equipped with my rotary cutter and tape measure is nearby.  I love the tropics so naturally  there  needs to be a flamingo in the picture.

I am working on my free motion quilting, so worked on the clouds. I , also, worked on a bit of wool and  embroidery.  Oh, notice the flower in my hair.

Added a couple of pins, "Sewinista" and "Friends of the Museum". I do belong to two quilt guilds, help to support the quilt museum in Paducah, Kentucky and  a Thursday Sew group. Do you get the impression I love to sew??

The sky, water, and tropical fabric on my dress and border have been picked up on my travels.

Today, well it is another story. I got to stay in while a snow storm, with snow, rain and ice whirled around me, doing my favorite thing, sewing.

Thank you to Marlene at Stitchin By the Lake for allowing me to be part of this fun hop.  The creativity has been fantastic aided by the fun pattern from Amy Bradley. Madame Samm from Sew we Quilt has once again come up with another wonderful plan for a blog hop. She is one of the most amazing ladies in blogland.   Once again, I have had a great time, and it has pushed my own creativity.  It is good to think outside the box.
Here is the list of the other great quilters for today.
The Passions of Cliodana
QuiltMamas
Marathon Quilter
Marla's Crafts
Fiber Babble
Simple Sew
Sewn Seabees
Charlotte at That Other Blog
Nini's Patchwork
Charlotte's Creations
Ipiece2-Mary (This is me)
My Spoolish Art
Have a great day.
Keep on sewing.

Mary

Saturday, Sea day,Our last day together

Mary Sorensen was my teacher for today.  We were doing "Eazy Breezy Applique".  What a great teacher.

On this morning, we had our own little adventure.  The ship sailed into a 60 mile an hour squall.  I had looked up and thought to myself that it looked like the water was a bit closer then it should be.  We were in the main dining room and there were windows on 3 sides of us.  When I looked out the back set of windows, I could see that we seemed to be tilted.  We were! The next thing we knew the china, glassware, flowers and anything sitting on the buffet near us was sliding off to the floor.  The Captain immediately came on the speakers to explain what had happened.  It took about 10 minutes for the ships ballast to right us. We were able to keep on sewing.  I have been in rough seas before, but never in this situation.

This was the project we were going to be working on today.

Here was a project one quilter had done in a previous class with Mary.

Here I am, with what I did get done in Mary's class that day.  Learned more  new techniques.  Every teacher has  something you can learn from.  I 

These ladies were showing off  what they had worked on during their classes with Kathy McNeil.  Her classes to choose from were Seahorse Sampler, Color me Caribbean, or Coral Reefs.  These quilters were doing amazing jobs on their projects.

Karen Combs showing  Crystal Star.

Here were more of the quilters with their Crystal Stars.  The colors were wonderful.

This was the showing of Kimberly Einmo's, Lonestar Strip Magic.

These two your ladies were from the quilt shop Seams Like Home, from Anchorage, Alaska.  They and their mother, Maret brought all sorts of goodies for us to purchase.  They also provided the Bernina sewing machines we used and arranged for mini workshops in the evening. Yes, they were identical twins, Angelyn and Enjoli.

Here is another completed Caribbean Sea Stars and one in the works.

Our hostess Kim Hedges was our emcee for the "Show and Tell Party".

Amy Ross, our sign up coordinator.

Linda James, our all around caretaker.

This was from Mary Sorenson's Handwork on Holiday.

More of Karen Combs, Crystal Star

I hope you enjoyed my latest adventure.  I sure did.  Trust me, once again I took over 500 pictures, and tried to cut them down to a few to show what a great time we had.  I have had the pleasure of going on a quilting cruise before, and have to say, it is a wonderful experience. This one was arranged by Quilt Seminar at Sea.  I am trying to decide which one I would like to go on next. I would definately do this again.

This is my wrap up of fun with quilting.  I came home energized and willing to face the latest in a series of life changes.
Ron already has plans in the works for some trips here in the midwest.

Now to get back to sewing.  I picked up fabric for borders on my mystery quilt on Monday.  Oh, one of the mini workshops I took was to do the Easy & Fast Strip Quilt.  You know the one you can make with a Bali Pop and is supposed to take only 60 minutes!  Mine is not quite done, but I will show it when it is.

Mary

Costa Maya, Mexico, Feb 15, 2013

Remember Costa Maya. That is what the embroidery says.  Holland America set up a wonderful tour just for the quilters.  We had a private tour to a village to see ladies working on these beautiful pieces of embroidery.  We had about a 45 minute drive to our destination.  Our tour guide, Gerardo, was wonderful.  He explained about the terrain, the people, and history of the Mayan culture.  The time sped by.  I was expecting hills. The country was flat, and wet.  He had so much information to share with us.

When we arrived, these ladies were working on their needlework.  Gerardo, explained that they met each day for 5 hours to work on their stitching. One young lady was doing needle punch and the rest were embroidering. None of them spoke English. You can see in the background the colorful work they did.  You sometimes get the feeling when you visit the souvenir shops that this is somehow done mass produced.  It really is done individually.  

The young ladies made us lunch.  We each got to try either a chicken or vegetarian tamale or both.   I also tried one of the local beers.  All was very good.

Here Gerardo is explaining how the tamales are made. They were made over a charcoal fire, using a cast iron  pot. The tamales are laid in a circle around the pot with an opening in the center.  This allows the heat to come up through the center and around the sides to cook them.

Here we are enjoying our lunch.  Twenty of us were on the excursion.

We were able to purchase the embroidery pieces that the ladies  had made.  Then before we boarded the bus, the ladies presented each one of us with a piece of their handwork.  Here I am with the one I received.  Gerardo was kind enough to take pictures of each of us as we received our embroidery.

This is the house that one of the ladies and her family live in.  Gerardo , had explained how the thatched roof was far more durable and economical. If it rained the water does not travel, as it does in our houses. They just replace the one area where the leak was. They do not have to trace back to where the water entered.

When we got back to the harbor, there was a dolphin show.  After many shots, I did get one  with the dolphin in the air!

One more  shot of the ladies and 2 gentlemen that were on our trip.

Two Holland American ships were in port.  Can you believe that blue sky and the gorgeous blues in the water.

Here is Ron, sunning himself on our veranda.  He had agreed to come along if we could have a room with a veranda.   He got his wish.  Let me tell you, he enjoyed every minute of it.  He sat out during the day to watch the water go by, or at night to check out the stars and moons positions.  He would take his reading material out there and enjoy the fresh air.

The quilters that went on our excursion had the greatest time.  It was a wonderful, special day.

Mary

Roatan, Honduras

Good Morning! That really is a sunrise. I have to say your sleep patterns do sort of rearrange themselves. Normally, you do not see me up at the crack of dawn!

This is where we spent the day. No excursions for me today.  I decided to walk and take in the colors  and scenery.

This map shows the island of Roatan. Not very big. I think they said  it is 4 miles at its widest and  about 22 miles long.  The area  where the ships dock has been built like a small town square.  It is not far from a lovely man made beach, and of course shopping and restaurants.

It you look around you, you may find the occasional iguana sunning himself in a tree.

Look what else I found, another type of lizard.  Have to do a bit of research to find out what type of creature this one is.

There is a craft market on the square. Local artisans have set up their wares for purchase.

This building housed the duty free shop.   Naturally, everyone had to pass through it  on the way to the visitors area.

It was Valentine's Day. Look what my wonderful husband sent to me.  A dozen, long stemmed roses.  They were  beautiful.

One more picture of a hibiscus.

Here is "Crystal Star".  This was one of the classes Karen Combs taught.  The cube shows such dimension.  The quilters all had graded dyed fabric to work with.  They were turning out beautiful.

Look what I finished!  I had some hand quilting to finish and  it was going to need to be bound.  I was optimistic that I would finish it while were were gone.  I had cut strips for binding!  I do love to do handwork.

Ta Dah!!!!!  Here is my " Caribbean Sea Stars", mystery quilt.  It is completed.   Can't wait to find border fabric when I get home.  In the evening from 7 to 9 we had open sew.  I used that time to complete my quilt top.  It was so much fun.
Next up is Costa Maya, Mexico.

Mary

Cayman Island

We arrive bright and early to the islands.  We had to be tendered in again.  There are 3 islands  in the Grand Cayman's.  This is the island where all the money is. Our tour guild said there are over 700  banks in Georgetown.

I decided to take the "Cayman Island Heritage Discovery" tour.  First stop was the Pedro Castle, which is know as the birthplace of democracy and the end of slavery. It is located on the ocean in the small town of Savannah.  It was built by the Englishman William Eden more then 200 years ago. The gentleman that gave our first few facts about the "castle" is a direct descendant of  William Eden.  

The  area inside the whole balcony is made of 18 inch thick walls, and is 3  stories.  There  is a  jail cell in the lower right hand corner. The view of the ocean was fabulous. Through the years (over 200) the building has been damaged by fire and hurricanes  It has stood the test of time.

Our second stop was Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.   What a beautiful place.   There were a lot of flowers in bloom.  The ponds had water lilies and ducks.

The botanic garden is famous for blue iguanas.  They were beautiful.  Who knew they could be.  This one is named Mary and was quite friendly.  She let our tour guild feed her flowers.  While touring the gardens, we did come upon several more.  It is said there is one on the grounds that is 6 feet long.  There are signs all around to watch out for them.  They love to sleep in shady places, like under cars.  There are big fines and jail time if you are caught killing one.   

As usual, I have to take a few pictures of flowers.  This is a form of ginger.                                                                          

The lighthouse restaurant is a popular spot for fine dining.                                                                                                      

There were 6 cruise ship in the harbor.  They are working on the  ship terminals, so we were all tendered in.  The last  tender for our ship was at 1:30 in the afternoon.

This flower is referred to as the Lobster Claw.

Here is the famous Shoe Tree.  After Hurricane Ivan the land and houses in this area was all destroyed.  One of the former residents  put a shoe on the tree in memory of the hurricane  People are still adding shoes to it.  

This was my birthday day.  I had a lot of fun and enjoyed everything.

Mary