Quilt cruise to Eastern Carribean

The Quilting cruise was so much fun ! We cruised the Eastern Carribean- sewed on the cruising days & had lots of fun in between. I went with a CCS friend who is a great quilter. I am not as experienced as she is, but I did learn a lot . I even kept up with the pattern which was my biggest fear- falling behind. The pattern ,kit, prizes, giveaways were from a local quilt shop - 3 Dudes.

Quilts At Sea - Michelle Jackson was the overall organizer. The highlight for me was going to a Batik factory on St Kitts for a private tour& making our own piece of Batik.
Another highlight- there were many !!! Was winning the sewing machine on board the cruise. A Florida dealer provided all sewing machines . He gives away a starter machine & I WON IT . The stipulation was it be given to a new beginning sewer. So my niece Abby Rose got a call from me when we landed in Ft Lauderdale that she would get sewing lessons from me & a new machine !!
She was thrilled & so am I !!!!!!

My almost finished top- just need to add border . A Batik kit with several choices of colors was included in our quilt package .

A view of the process of making our own piece of Batik . 

Great trip & motivation 😄😄😄

AZ Gives & Quilting Cruise

AZ Gives was a huge success for The Christ Child Society of Phx . We raised over $2300. Now we can add diapers back to our Layettes . I have 29 onsies to drop off this morning . I didn't get my March goal of an afghan or baby quilt finished , but...
I'm heading to FL tomorrow or an eastern Caribbean quilting cruise . I'm Very excited, but nervous. The friend I'm going with is a superior quilter & I'm NOT. I'm hoping to learn  a lot & have FUN . we had to make mug rugs for an exchange with fellow quilters . Mine is machine embroidered ,after 3 tries of binding it's done .
Need to get packing & hoping to save room in suitcase for visit to Batik factory !!!!!!

London City Bag

First time using a slider- It ACTUALLY worked to make the handle have a double slider.  I can use the bag now as a cross body or shoulder bag.  I WILL be using this on all future bags.  I watched a
you tube video  to add this feature.  I watched it 4 times, as it worked so slick. I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE that I figured this out.  I like this pattern as well.  It was a class I took as part of Gourmet Club at Bernina Connection.  I plan to make another for an upcoming trip, but I will make a little bit smaller.  Id like to use this one for a few weeks and then decide. All batiks were from my stash. Soft & stable was used as it is a foam & gave great body to the bag.
Thanks to vacuumingthelawn.blogspot.com   Kyle sent me the link to the Etsy shop where she bought her sliders. I bought the lobster claw/ swivel hooks at my Bernina store ,but have also gotten them from picklepiedesigns.com .