Stitchin' of the Sea

As you may be aware, I was out of town last week. I joined the Stitchin Heaven Travel crew to teach on a quilt cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was incredibly fortuitous timing to be floating around in the Caribbean when the temperatures reached record lows back home. Sometimes this job can be pretty darn excellent!

Once on board the Royal Caribbean ship, Harmony of the Seas, it seemed like hints of quilts were everywhere.

Is it me, or is that the beginning of a double wedding ring quilt in the hallway carpet pattern?

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I opted to stay in my room and have mine delivered. Fresh fruit pastries anyone?

Quite the morning view as we arrive in our first port - Labadee, Haiti.

Labadee is purely a beach stop. Local Haitians have some small pop-up crafty shops on the island, but the best bet is to pull up a lounge chair in the sun or the shade, enjoy a barbeque lunch, and relax. . . .

The view from my lounge chair! Sweet!

Back on the ship, I elected to have some fresh pasta from the pasta bar in one of the ship's dining facilities. Steaming, delicious pasta with an ocean view. Can't beat that. . . .

And it's very important to stay well hydrated when you are away from home!

Tons of excursions offer the sights, sounds, and tastes of each country we visit. If you opt out of the excursions or have a little extra time before getting back on board, exquisite and unique shopping opportunities are available, too! Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico shops offered color, tradition, and a little something for Super Bowl fans as the big game approached.

 

 

The whole point of a quilt cruise is that we actually do some QUILTING! The conference room is all ours for the duration of the cruise. I stepped in as a replacement for a teacher who had a scheduling conflict. And you know that I took the opportunity to turn a matchy-matchy quilt pattern into something scrappy-scrappy! A special Welcome to the folks from the cruise who are now reading this edition of Good Migrations!

Back in my cabin, my cabin mate settled in with a bit of TV while I was off teaching quilt classes.

(Hey! Those look a lot like MY sunglasses!).

After teaching class, and in between port stops, I took advantage of some stitching opportunities. This little Valentine's cross stitch piece (only about 8" square with borders) is something different I'm trying - to incorporate two of my stitchy loves - charted stitching (cross stitch, in this case) and quilting.

All too soon, the sun sets on our travels and we're headed back to port and back home to the deep chill.

Just a reminder, I've got another cruise on the calendar with Quilt Retreat at Sea! I'm headed to Hawaii  in April 2020, and I'm creating a brand new quilt project just for the trip. Space is limited and it's filling up.

Do you want these to be your quilty vacation photos next year? Sign up (call 210-858-6399 or click here) and join me at the port in Seattle! We'll head out to Hawaii from there and have a marvelous time! I promise!

Happy Stitching!
Joan