Quilting Cruise Part 2

 

Glacier Bay

     We flew out to Seattle the day before our cruise and were able to enjoy a nice sunny day walking around the city.  The next day when we boarded it was still sunny and nice, we enjoyed our first meal by the pool looking out on the harbor.

My first lunch

     The next day was a day at sea and the first part of my quilting class.  It was overcast and rough seas, I wound up getting seasick as did several of the others in my class.  The next day was better for the second part of my class.  We arrived in Juneau just after lunch time.  It was cool and drizzly, sometimes raining more.  We did a bit of shopping and walking around town.  John did find a couple of geocaches.  We went on a Segway tour on an Alpine meadow trail.  It was really pretty despite the drizzle.

Alpine meadow

Alpine meadow

     The next day we cruised around in Glacier Bay.  It was a sunny but cold day.  I was glad to have a balcony in our room so I could go in and out to see the sights and then get warm again.  That evening we pulled into Icy Strait Point where we had booked a Sky Peak Gondola ride and a ZipRider adventure.  It was warmer there so it was nice to walk around.  The zip line was really tall and they sent us down six at a time!  

Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay

The ZipRider

     The next day was once again cool and overcast as we pulled into Sitka, Alaska's oldest city.  We toured a raptor center that rehabbed injured birds.  Unfortunately not all were able to be released back into the wild so they had quite a few for us to observe.  Then we walked through the rain forest back to the city.  We saw many, many salmon trying to swim upstream to spawn.

Rain forest walk

Low tide in Sitka

     The next stop was Ketchikan, the salmon capital of the world.  There we took a duck tour to see the sights and learn more about the city.  We tried to find a geocache there also, but couldn't find it.  We did get to walk around quite a bit looking for it.  Did a bit of shopping before enjoying a dinner at one of the nicer restaurants on board the ship.  

Enjoying the duck tour

Our ship from another pier

     The last day was a foggy day at sea.  Couldn't really see anything but at least the seas weren't too bad.  We wound up getting into port in Canada so late, all shore excursions were canceled.  Because the weather was so bad, we didn't even get off the boat.

Canada

     We pulled into the Seattle port early the next morning.  It was a smooth transfer back to the airport with the cruise line taking care of our checked luggage for us.  The ship, the Eurodam, was nice and so very clean.  The food was good though some things were only so-so.  We enjoyed the shows almost every night.  It was fun meeting other quilters and our dinner conversations were so fun.  

Quilting Cruise Part 1

 

My 'Barefoot' in Alaska Block

     My husband and I just got back from an Alaskan quilting cruise on Holland America, Eurodam.  This week I will tell you all about the quilting part and next week I will tell you all about Alaska.  The idea was that while we were at sea I would be taking quilting classes and then tour on port days.  I signed up for my two classes but then there was a problem getting sewing machines for the cruise so at the last minute they had to change the classes scheduled.  My first class was still a go but the second class would have been a hand appliqué class.  I thought that sounded like torture so they allowed me to get a refund for the second class.

Sewing the Thangles

     Besides the classes there was also a block challenge.  The theme was 'Barefoot' in Alaska and the block had to be 10.5 x 10.5.  I decided to make a bear paw block with an embroidered bear paw in the middle.  I found the perfect design at Designs by JuJu.  I did my embroidery and then it was time to make the block itself.  I wanted to use Thangles for my half square triangles as they are so easy to use.

Cutting them apart

Cut Thangles

     I cut 3.5" strips and pinned them together with the paper.  It goes dark (right side up), light (wrong side up) and then the paper.  I sewed on the dotted lines and then cut on the solid lines.

Pressing step 1

Pressed open

Corners trimmed

Paper torn off

     For pressing, you place the dark side up and then open it up and press the seam.  The paper prevents any stretching of the bias seam.  Then you trim off the little triangles that are overhanging the square and gently tear off the paper.  Perfect half square triangles every time.

Embroidered block

Almost done

     I trimmed the embroidered block to 6.5" square and sewed the pieces together.  I now had a 9.5 square so I added strips of the darker fabric to make it the 10.5" that I needed.  I was so proud of how it turned out, I brought it to Show and Tell at my neighborhood ASG meeting.  The next day when we were packing, I completely forgot to take it out of the bag I brought to the meeting and place it in the suitcase.  All I had was a photo on my phone to show everyone on the cruise. :-(

Confetti fabric

      The class I took was an Alaskan landscape confetti quilt with Sally Manke.  She taught us how to use a photo to make the template for our quilt.  After I got the basic lines drawn on my batting, I started cutting lots of confetti.  Many different colors and oh so much cutting.  Then it was time to start putting the confetti in place.  The seas were really rough that day and by the end of class about half of us were feeling seasick.  

End of day one

     I was able to get the background all done and get the tree trunks in place by the end of day one.  The next day I finished my trees and got the netting down and pinned in place.  I carefully folded the sides in and placed it in my cutting mat bag with a piece of foam board on top.  I placed it in my suitcase, flat, and just crossed my fingers.

Ready for the netting

      

     When we got home, I unpacked my suitcases the next day and then opened up the cutting mat bag,  Whew, it made it home in one piece.  Now I need to find the time to quilt it all down.

Whew, made it home okay

     Part of the quilt cruise included a list of quilt shops along the way.  Of course I had to stop at each one.  The one in Juneau was Changing Tides.  I bought fabric to make a three yard quilt, a 'kit' of fat quarters and a pattern for another quilt and a Christmas ornament.  The second shop in Sitka wasn't much, didn't buy anything there.  At the third shop, Whale's Tail, in Ketchikan, I bought a panel and a couple of coordinating fabrics to make a quilt.

What I bought

Dark version

Light version

     I took a couple of photos of the 'kit' I bought.  I haven't decided if I want to go dark or light for the background pieces.  The woman at the shop mentioned that someone had done one with a navy blue background also that looked great.  Time to get cutting and sewing again.  I still have a quilt from our Hawaii trip that I need to finish cutting and sewing.

Renewing the Landscaping

 

West side walk

     We have been in our house for over 25 years now, the longest we have lived anywhere.  We put in a patio in the back yard and then years later added a built in grill.  We also added an addition to our front porch and put in stairs to the side yard.  After the years with the trees growing and all, it became just dirt or mud between the houses making it difficult to get from the back to the front.  This was the year we decided to put in a paver path to make things easier.  Of course one thing led to another and we wound up renewing most of the landscaping.  We wound up using Eubanks Environmental for the work.  They did a great job with everything.

     On the west side of the house is the semi-permeable paver path.  They also used the flagstones we had had there before and stood them on edge to create a bit of a retaining wall to keep the dirt and mulch off the path.  We transplanted some day lilies and irises from the other side of the house to fill in there.

New mulch path

Plantings along the fence

New planting area where another crabapple was removed

Along the house

     On the east side of the house I wanted to continue the stone lined mulch path that I had done closer to the front of the house.  I liked how it looked and functioned.  Lots of small boulders and mulch later I had a new path.  He planted LOTS of native plants and grasses.  We also transplanted some irises that had to be moved to make the path wide enough.

Metal edging

Path around the cherry tree

     In the back yard I had them install a metal edging.  I was tired of always digging the grass out of the planting bed.  The flagstones that had been on the east side of the house were repurposed to make a little path around the cherry tree and go from the patio to the grass.  That was mostly for the grandkids.  Lots of plants there also and fresh mulch everywhere.  

Vegetable garden

     There are also a bunch of new plants in the front of the house now that we no longer need the area to grow vegetables.  Last fall, John built a raised planting bed in the back by the driveway after we removed the crabapple tree that wasn't doing well.  They placed some pavers around that to keep the grass away.  Add to that, they power washed the patio and added new sand.  Everything looks fresh and new again.  Ready for another 25+ years I hope.