Wow........ well after a week long journey and 3000 miles flown and sailed..I'm back. Seattle..gorgeous....Alaska...stunning. I have hundreds of pictures. Here are just a few. My favorite things were the Glaciers, the rain forests in Juneau that I didn't know existed and the colorful homes and totems of Ketchikan.
Here is a look at a Glacier...
and Ketchikan...the building in the picture houses it's only quilt shop. It was a wonderful quilt shop!
Near Ketchikan....
Victoria Island B.C. 's Empress Hotel....
Temperate Rainforest and Gardens in Juneau
And of course....desert from the ship LOL
It was a quilting cruise as well. I had a class with Margaret Miller who is known for her Angle Play. The class was a good learning experience about angles and design and really stepping up my quilting "game". In addition to that, I was encouraged to step up by Vikki Pignatelli who is know for Improvisational Quilting. Her ideas are just a tiny jumping off point. I could go crazy with her awesome ideas. I understand the process of improvisation and how to free my quilting mind...and embrace my creativity. It was a fabulous learning experience with Vikki. If you ever get the chance to learn from either teacher...DO it.
While we had quilt classes while we out to sea, we had shore time too. I visited the quilt shops in Sitka: Abby's Reflection
Ketchikan: Silver Thimble
I purchased a few items...not that much as I had to get it home on the suit case right!! We met sooo many wonderful quilters. 2 of my favorites were R and J. Well J wasn't a quilter really. She was a companion to R and her sister. We shopped on shore together and ate dinner every night in the dining room together. We had a great time talking, eating and talking MORE. It was just refreshing. I really needed a break from kids, work, Internet and cell phones. And I did certainly have one. I am happy to see my girls today and get back to business as usual. I used my time away to not only sew, but read a couple of novels(small ones) and design some new projects.
Whew...that was a lot for one post.
Thanks for checking in on me!