Alaska - the Classes

There were 3 teachers on the cruise and we each taught a different project.

Brenda Henning (from Anchorage, Alaska) taught Trapezium, a strip pieced project that resulted in some very dynamic designs.

Donna Thomas is from Kansas City and it was fun seeing her Blue Lake project take shape as students made their units.

This is the project I taught. The quilt is called Under the Northern Lights and the panels are images from Alaskan artist Barbara Lavelee produced by Northcott.

Margie and her finished quilt.  I first met Margie when I taught in O'Fallon, Illinois

Students came from Canada and many US States to join us on this cruise. Some came with a quilting friend and many came with husbands and partners who could enjoy the ship while we were quilting at sea and take excursions to see Alaska when we were in the ports. Many also enjoyed a visit to Butchart Gardens when we stopped in Victoria!

The Conference Centre was divided into 3 classrooms and the students selected their sewing space on the first evening. Here are a few pictures of the setup.  Notice the wonderful Bernina 330 sewing machines for each quilter.

Students never had to move from their sewing space - the teachers moved instead!  This made it SO easy on everyone!

Some students used different fabrics for their quilts in my class. What a great idea!!

Mitzi and Anita (mother and daughter) are from Arvada, Colorado. Love the theme fabrics in both these quilts!

Mitzi's Wilderness Scenes

Anita's Bakers

Jim  and Mazy are friends (from Calgary and Kamloops).

 They also used great theme fabrics for their quilts.

Mazy's Quilt

Jim's 'cats'. I love this bright version!

Stitchin Heaven always takes a Group Photo on each cruise and
here we are with our Stitchin Heaven t-shirts. A total of 63 quilters came on this cruise!

And the teachers and Deb and Dana (our amazing hosts and organizers!)

I'll leave you with the final Towel Monkey from our stateroom.

It was an amazing trip and I know many lasting friendships were made!

Planning Ahead....Alaska Quilt Cruise - August 2017

Join me on a 7-night Alaska Sawyer Glacier Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas.

Although this wonderful adventure is more than a year away I'm getting very excited about my next quilting cruise.  I have just finished making the project that I'll be teaching onboard the ship and I love how it has turned out!

Under the Northern Lights features a panel designed by celebrated Alaskan artist Barbara Lavallee. Her fanciful portrayal of an Alaskan winter makes this a wonderful keepsake of your trip.  The quilt is a nice lap size and you can reserve a pre-cut Sail 'n Sew Fabric kit so you can start sewing as soon as our class begins.

One of the reasons I am so excited is that this cruise is organized by one of the industry's BEST cruise co-ordinators, Deb Luttrell of Stitchin' Heaven and her amazing staff.

I will be joined on this cruise by quilt teachers Brenda Henning and Donna Thomas. They also have some wonderful projects for you. And you will be sewing on Bernina 330 sewing machines (one for each student) and we will use Aurifil 50 wt. thread as we make our quilts.

Every quilting guest can take every class and we only sew on the 'at sea' days. Still lots of time to explore our interesting ports of call: Juneau, Skagway and Victoria (that's the major city 20 minutes from my home and also the home of Butchart Gardens).  If the Gardens are on your 'bucket list' you will be able to explore them and still have time to check out a couple of my 'home' quilt shops too!

I know you want to know MORE....

First, you'll want to check out our ship, Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. The ship sailed into Victoria in mid-May this year. Here is an article) all about the ship (with pictures) from our local newspaper.

Next, pop over to the Stitchin' Heaven site to read all the details about the amazing benefits included in this cruise, project information and a detailed itinerary. Oh yes, pricing is there too.

If you have any questions not answered on the Stitchin' Heaven site, use the Stitchin' Heaven Travel Contact Form and one of Deb's staff will get right back to you. Any questions about my project? Just email me.

Hope to see you onboard!