Summertime!!!

Well, I've been MIA on the blog for a while, but for good reason.  Things have been busy around here!  

First, I went on my first cruise!!!  My mom booked us on the Patriot Cruise through Stitchin' Heaven when it was announced last year and we had a BLAST!  Our teachers for the week were Combat Quilter Andrew Lee and The Quilting Marine Mark Darrell, and as an added bonus, Rob Appell was on board.  

The guys definitely kept us entertained in the sewing room.  Mom was a little out of her element, since we were working on traditional quilts, but she did manage to get a few blocks done.  I went renegade and instead of making the quilt Andrew was teaching, I did the wall hanging included in his pattern.

I'm already counting down until our next cruise, which will be setting sail from Florida on March 16, 2025.  Helayna will be joining us, since it will be her senior year of high school.  She's excited about her first cruise!  I can't wait to start booking our excursions for that one, since we had so much fun on the excursions in Mexico and Honduras!

Two days after getting home from the cruise, Mom and I hit the road to the Sequin area for a retreat we had planned at The Queen's Rustic Retreat Center in McQueeney, TX.  The focus of this retreat was Quiltworx Technique of the Month patterns.  In true renegade fashion, I worked on a table runner and the new Haystack Cookies pattern, but at least I was working on Quiltworx patterns!  That's a step in the right direction from the last Friends of Judy retreat I was at.  

I came across a partially completed Cactus Flower table runner at a little quilt shop in South Texas.  The shop was helping the widowed husband of a quilter to clean out her sewing supplies.  I was able to get it finished this weekend and will quilt it soon.  I do love the colors of it.  Some of the ladies at the retreat this week are from the area where that quilt shop is and they believe that the quilter who started it was named Gladys, and they were happy to see one of her projects get completed.

We had a blast this week, getting lots of sewing done!  The next Friends of Judy retreat is happening at Stitchin' Heaven on June 26 and I can't wait to see more of my quilting friends there!

Once I get home tomorrow, I'll be busy working on lots of tumbler orders and building stock for the upcoming quilt shows that I'll be a vendor at!  Life is keeping my busy and I'm loving it!!!  

Stay Creative, Y'all!

~Krista