Mystery Quilt

What is a Mystery Quilt you ask?  I did too.  I never understood how the term Mystery could be related to a quilt, but I found out.  I took a class at the Quilter's Market quilt shop in Tucson last month. They were held on 2 consecutive Friday nights.

close up view of one block

So when I signed up for the quilt class, I asked for the supply list.  The 1st clue was the only thing listed, I was direceted to  chose yardage for the dark, medium and light fabrics. Ok, so 3 fabrics are chosen out of my stash.  Luckily I had enough yardage of a dark purple tone on tone print, orange/yellow batik print for medium, and an offwhite tone on tone fabric.  I think this was the hardest part of the task, as I had no final product to look at and was unsure how the pieces would be put together, so as the clues progressed during the class time, we could see the progress.  A lot of piecing and strip sewing.  A lot, and I mean a lot of ripping out seams, since I managed to sew a whole section of the quilt the wrong direction.  Well yesterday,  I finally got the top pieced completely together,  I am thinking of adding the 'optional' border so that it will be a larger quilt. 

By the way, if you want to make a Mystery Quilt join me next May for an Alaskan cruise with the Mystery Quilt teachers Jean Biddick and Jo Cady-Bull on our Quilt Retreat at Sea Mystery Cruise  Pass the link on http://www.quiltretreatatsea.com/ and come on aboard.

She's a Quilter

For those of you who know Michelle, she has always proclaimed to be a 'Non-Quilter'  according to her- " Mom is the quilter, I just do make the cruise arrangements"... Well, she can no longer make that statement.  Last Christmas she was at the shop where I work- Hearts and Hands Quilts in Green Valley, AZ.  She spent the day with me as we were getting ready for a Chamber of Commerce meeting, well anyway.... so she found fabric she wanted and then she wanted me to make her the quilt.  I told her I would buy the fabric for her as her christmas present and teach her to make the quilt.  Voila.... here is the result...

Pattern from "City Lights" made by Michelle Jackson, on Bernina 150 sewing machine. Quilt will be longarm quilted by Nina Keck of Hearts and Hands Quilts   http://www.heartsandhandsquilts.com/

New cruises- new instructors-new quilters

Hi to all,
Michelle and I have been busy at the Tucson Quilt Show.  We have had a great time meeting and welcoming aboard new Quilt Retreat at Sea cruisers for our 2011 and 2012 quilt cruises. We are happy to have met some of you that had previously registered for a cruise, and now we will be able to have a face with the name. 

Here's a peek at our booth.  We got a lot of nice comments.  The stringer was loaned to us by Nina at Hearts and Hands Quilts Shop. She took a long string of white lights and wrapped miles of  small strips of scraps around the wiring.  They shine nicely and attract a good bit of attention. 
The 'Sandal' quilt was a hit and prompted many to stop and ask questions about it.  Here is the story behind the quilt.  In 2008 I asked the quilters who were taking our inaguaraul cruise to please make a sandal block ( I provided a pattern). They were asked to applique the sandal to a 10" block of white cotton. Once I received the blocks,  I had the challenge of putting them all together and completing the quilt. Nina Keck- professional long arm quilter and owner of Hearts and Hands Quilts did the quilting.
Michelle and I look forward to sailing with you in 2011 and 2012, we are also now beginning to plan for the last half of 2012 and 2013 so that there will be many more cruises for you to enjoy and many more techniques for you to learn.

Finished Quilt

In July of this year, we had an awesome time cruising in Alaska's inside passage. During the cruise, we had many lessons from quilt artist Carol Morrisey you can find her website at http://www.ocaroldesigns.com/
This week we received a picture from one of our quilters, Susan Botther.  She lives in South Africa and does beautiful handwork.  She has finished her masterpiece from the cruise and sent us the photo.

Great work Susan,  you are SEW CRUISING.

Cozumel

What happens in Cozumel, stays in Cozumel... a Quilt Retreat at Sea motto..... LOL

                                                          As last mentioned, Michelle went cruising for her birthday last week.  So instead of sending me photos she made me wait until today.  Here she is at the Ocean:  nice photo, Michelle.

                                                                                                                                                                      And this is her NEW best friend-  Senor Iguana.

But from the looks of these pictures, she had a GREAT time

Where in the World is Michelle Now?

 Did she go to Victoria Buchart Gardens?





St. Lucia ?

Hoonah Alaska?

 Santo Domingo?

Mendenhall Glacier?

Could she have gone to the Mediterranean? Bahamas? Mexican Riveria? Hawaii? The choices are endless....

Take a guess.....  Post your guess on our facebook page

Answer in a few days when she gets home and sends me the photos.... of her 'Girlfriend Get-a-way'.... sound fun?  We can all have the same fun on our Quilt Retreat at Sea- with wonderful quilt artists/friends/and exotic ports of call. Check out the website for more detailed information: http://www.quiltretreatatsea.com/

Hearts and Hands Quilts is Named

2010 Small Business of the Year

Last night at the Green Valley/Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce Meeting- Nina Keck owner of Hearts and Hands Quilts was honored. She received her award in April but this was a mixer that honored all the winners. 

http://www.heartsandhandsquilts.com/

We, her staff and friends, are so proud of her integrity and huge wonderful spirit.  It is a pleasure to work with Nina.

Quilt Retreat at Sea was privileged to have Nina as the very first Shop Sponsor. She enjoyed the experience so much that she has chosen to sponsor our July 1-8, 2011 Alaskan cruise which will feature applique artist David Taylor and southwest designer J. Michelle Watts.

Congratulations again Nina.