After we departed from Curacao we had another “at sea” day for classes. I forgot to take photos that day so you’ll have to trust me when I tell you it was another good day. Our class was in the upper dinning room with windows all along one side so we had good light for our hand applique workshop. Below is a photo from the final day of show and tell. This is what some students finished in the workshop and some did a little sewing between class day and the last day and….
some students brought their projects which they had finished after taking this workshop on the cruise last year. I love seeing them finished.
Each evening when we returned to our suite the staff would have our bed covers pulled down, our pillows fluffed, some chocolates on our bed and a towel animal, different each night, on the bottom of our bed. I think Joe should do this for me now that I am at home!! Right?
It was around 6am the following day that we entered the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal approximately 50 miles long uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans at one of the narrowest points of both the Isthmus of Panama and the American Continent. The canal officially opened in 1914 and since then more than 900,000 vessels have transited the waterway. There are six sets of locks, each having two lanes, which elevate ships 85 feet above sea level to the level of the Gatun Lake into which they pass. The ships use their own propulsion and are assisted in the locks by electric locomotives.
We were already in the first lock and this is the ship entering the lane beside us in the canal. The ship tosses lines to the small boats on either side of them. (I’d rather be in the big ship than the little boat!)
The boats bring the lines to the locomotives on either side.
The locomotives assist the ships through the canal.
The ships are within inches of the side of the canal. I would not want the job of driving the ship at this stage of the game. Just look how close they are to the sides of the canal. Yikes!
Here is a nice photo of the locks.
See the difference in water levels between the two ships?
We went through the canal and then hung out in the lake for awhile and then went back through the canal. A short distance from there we docked in Colon, Panama. We were only there for about 3 hours so we just got off the ship and walked around the local shops. And what do you think I found???? I found molas! For those of you unfamiliar with this type of hand work they are made by the Kuna women in the San Blas Islands. According to Wikipedia the mola forms started as part of a traditional costume of a Kuna woman. Two mola panels were constructed to form the front and back of a blouse. In Dulegaya, the Kuna’s native language, “mola” means “shirt” or “clothing”. The technique started between 170 to 150 years ago. Molas are hand made using a reverse applique technique. Here are a couple of the molas that I purchased.
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BOOK REVIEW
“Point, Click and Quilt” by Susan Brubaker Knapp is a fabulous book. I took it along on my trip so I had something to read at the beginning and end of the flight when you cannot use your electronic books. I am glad I took this book. It not only has great content but the photography is excellent. It’s like eye candy. You just want to keep looking and looking and looking at the photos. Susan’s book is about taking photos and turning them into great quilts. She spends time at the beginning of the book talking about how to shoot great photos, design and composition and the supplies you’ll need. After the instructional portion of the book there are 16 fusible applique projects. Susan also talks adding threads and more to make your quilts come to life.
Over the past several years I’ve photographed several of Susan’s quilts which were hanging at quilt shows and included them in my blog because I think her work is eye catching and interesting. And her quilts usually have a ribbon attached to them because the judges must have liked them as much as I do.
To order and to see more of Susan’s work go to http://www.bluemoonriver.com/
In the next blog I’ll share with you our final stop on the cruise, Costa Rica. It might have been the best stop on the cruise….. You’ll have to come back to find out why.