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The Caribbean Cruise Review!


Hello Everyone!  I am back from teaching on the wonderful Stitchin Heaven Cruise and we had so much fun that I needed a vacation from my vacation!  The ship was great, the students wonderful and the cruise was fun and busy.  The cruise was 7 days with three ports and a few days at sea for teaching.  Jim, fresh off his knee surgery, took it easy, but there is so much walking on the ship- to the room, to the dining areas, to the classroom and just all over the ship.  He rested when he could, but did not miss a thing.  We had great weather - I did not know anyone that got seasick.  Read on to get a taste of the fun we all had on this great cruise.
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Here is the ship - Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas.  It always amazes me how large these ships are!  Our room was on deck 10 with the sewing room on deck 3, both at the front of the ship. I don't know who our model is in the photo, but I love his shoes!

Here is one part of the sewing room.  I taught half of the students the first part of the cruise and then taught the other half later in the cruise.  Each student had a Bernina 475 sewing machine, a fabric kit (if requested) and a Stitchin Heaven worker to help with anything needed.



Cruise Project - Indigo Puzzle Box
I taught Indigo Puzzle Box to the students.  They did great with the block and a few even finished the entire quilt!   Indigo Puzzle Box is available as a downloadable pattern  in my Etsy shop, Petite Quilts, if you are interested in making this large quilt for yourself.

Jill Shaulis of Yellow Creek Quilt Designs was the other instructor on this cruise.  She taught Harriet's Poineer Braid quilt to the students.  It was a smaller project and several of the students were able to complete this quilt.  Jill is a reproduction fabric designer for Robert Kaufman fabrics, so watch for her new fabric line, Love, Mom coming out in Jan 2026.  Yea!  More Reproductions!

On the cruise was Carrie Quinn of Peaceful Gathering!  She is another reproduction fabric designer - yea!- for Marcus Fabrics.


One of the perks of knowing great fabric designers is that they give you gifts!  Carrie gave me a fabric bundle of her new line named Arabella.  It features beautiful reds, greens and browns.

Arabella Block of the Month will be offered by Stitchin Heaven along with Carrie's shop so watch for this beautiful project in the fall.

Here are the ladies that made this stitching cruise possible. 
From L-R Deb, Jill, Dawn, me and Dana.

We never let a Happy Hour go to waste!

Above is Jill and her great hubby David.

We ate with our students each evening and I must say - we had the best table mates on the ship!

I hope they all had as much fun as I did!

I never take photos of myself so I tried to get a selfie every day.  I only remembered to take a couple.

One more photo from the trip.  The sixth level of the ship was decked out to look like Central Park with lots of trees, greenery and even birds!  They took orchids and attached them to the trunk of the trees.  The roots wrapped onto the trunks and the orchids grew and even bloomed - they were beautiful and amazing!

Sewcation in Lancaster,PA
So if seeing all the fun we had on this cruise gets you wishing you could take a sewing vacation, join me and Jo Caraway in Lancaster, PA for a fun Sewcation,  July 6-11, presented by Stitchin Heaven .  I will be teaching Scrappy Anvil Quilt and we will have a wonderful time sewing and visiting the Amish country in the area.  Check with Stitchin Heaven for all the details and join me for all the fun!

Pick A Petal
I had my first class teaching Pick A Petal  at Must Love Fabric last Sunday and everyone had a great time.  This Block of the Month was designed by Jen Kingwell  and uses her newest fabric line featuring lots of her Lollies and a line of light fabrics called Bonbons (featured above). The students learned how to assemble the center of the quilt project which included Y seams, curved piecing and set in fans.  We meet once a month in a lecture /demo format with lots of tips and ideas for the students.  If you are interested in hopping in, contact the shop and we will see you next month!

My Pick A Petal center medallion plus month 1 and month 2 blocks.


Pick A Petal  has some simple appliquéd flowers sewn on the low volume log cabin blocks.  I  was able to get them completed by the pool on the cruise- it was a tough job, but someone had to do it!

Spring Classes at Must Love Fabric
​We started Pick A Petal last Sunday, but if you want to hop in, contact the shop.  I have one more class this month, the Pineapple Quilt, this Thursday evening. Come sew with us at  Must Love Fabric in Colleyville, TX. 

Pineapple Quilt, Wednesday, May 22, 6-9p

Pick A Petal, Class is once a month for 6 months, starting Sunday, May 18, 2-4p

More classes to come this summer.
I will have samples for the classes on display, so call the shop at 817-488-6764 for all the details and come join the fun!

Fredrik Backman Booksigning
I had wonderful evening with my lovely daughter Lauren last Tuesday at the First United Methodist Church of Dallas attending a book signing for Fredrik Backman's newest book My Friends.  He is a very popular author judging by the hundreds of fans that came to meet him and listen to him speak and answer questions.  Lauren and I have plenty of time to catch up while waiting in line for a signed copy of the book.  I have only read one of his books, but judging from his popularity, I will have to put more of his titles on my reading list!


I will be playing my first round of golf this Wednesday!  Please say a prayer for everyone living on the golf course, their windows may be in danger!  I will let you know how it turns out!

I will be taking the summer off from blogging.  The next three months will be very busy with teaching, traveling and sewing, so keep up on Instagram and Facebook. 
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So have a wonderful summer, keep busy, stay safe and healthy and keep on creating!

Later,  Annette