While I am away teaching on two cruises with the staff from Stitchin' Heaven Quilt Cruises, back to back, I thought you might like to see the quilt projects the students are making.
First, we sail from Port Liberty in Bayonne, NJ on the 10 day New England/Canada cruise. There are about 80 students and two teachers. We split into two classrooms, I teach half the group one day while the other teacher has the other half. The next sea day, we teachers change places, the students stay at their assigned space all 10 days. A Bernina sewing machine is provided for each student to use 24/7 if they like.
This quilt is my original pattern, based on an antique quilt I own. ON THE LILY POND:
Most students buy the pre-cut kit, as space in the classroom is limited. Students who want to use their own fabric buy the pattern in advance then pre-cut ALL their pieces at home before boarding the ship.
Here is the lovely kit for ON THE LILY POND, each piece laser-cut and carefully sorted in bags for class time. The kits are shipped onboard so all students need to bring are basic sewing supplies:
Some students only make ONE of the offered quilts, some make both. Some sew from morning until late at night, rarely leaving the ship. I will be enjoying tours in Boston, Portland, Nova Scotia and St. John.
After 10 days on that cruise our ship, LIBERTY OF THE SEAS , returns to New Jersey where most passengers will disembark. I stay onboard as later that afternoon the ship sails south to BERMUDA. I am the only teacher and we have about 70 students for this cruise.
The pattern for this cruise is DAZZLED, and involves learning to sew curves. Here is my sample top, made from the Kit:
And the Kit. Believe me, having all those curved pieces laser-cut saves much time and ensures things FIT:
As usually happens, I have friends joining me on these cruises. Sandy and her husband will be with us on the New England/Canada trip and Jan and her husband will join us for Bermuda.
I expect to teach again on a cruise in 2027. When that opens for registration I will tell you. These cruises fill in a matter of a couple weeks. Sandy was on the waitlist and we are both thrilled a spot opened up for her and her husband to join in the fun.
The only problem I foresee after being on a lovely cruise ship for more than two weeks? It will be really HARD to have to start COOKING DINNER AGAIN! I stick to my exercise routine on the ship every day but there will probably be a few pounds to get off when I get home.
You can expect a blog post about these great trips sometime after I get home.
Let's quilt AND cruise!
Barbara
