Our final port of call for this cruise was Aruba. I had been to Aruba approximately 15 years ago with some friends and had a wonderful time. We stayed at an all inclusive resort which boasted its culinary training program. And as advertised, the food was fantastic. In a building connected to the resort, the soon-to-be-chefs were preparing dishes under the watchful eye of executive chef instructors and that food was served to the guests. Excellent. When we drove by the old place it looked like bombed out Bagdad. I am not kidding. Our driver, Edward, informed us that it had been vacant for years and it was in major disrepair. Oh, how things change. But, from the ashes of many of the older hotels have sprung bigger and more glamorous resorts. The awesome beauty of the island had not changed.
I think this might be “Cuff” and “Link” from the Rocky movie?
We stopped at the butterfly farm. Several islands now have butterfly farms where they attract the butterflies with fresh cut fruit and have them contained in a very large netted area.
Our taxi driver, Edward, took us on a nice tour of the island. He stopped by this quaint little church. Here is the sign in front of the church.
The interior of the church is very small and could not seat very many people. It was built in 1750 and built at a fantastic location. We were properly “at tired” when we went to this lovely chapel.
I’m guessing since the inside of the church could seat so few that they put lots of benches on the outside to seat a bigger congregation. Wouldn’t this be an amazing location for a wedding? Or just to sit and meditate?
The last two days of the cruise were “at sea” days which means time for more quilting classes. I taught one hand applique class and then one machine applique class the last day. The quilt shop that works with the travel agency provides all the necessary sewing machines. I think that is amazing. They have to do a lot of preparation in order to get all of those sewing machines on board. On this cruise there were five classes each “at sea” day. Three teachers taught hand sewing classes and 2 teachers per day taught sewing machine classes.
The quilt blocks you see behind me on the wall are some of the challenge blocks. On each one of these quilting cruises the students are sent a piece of fabric and given a theme. Their instructions are to sew a certain size block using this fabric. On the last evening there is a large show and tell of what the students made in their classes and then someone is chosen as a winner of the blocks. The teachers are given ballots and asked to vote on 3 specific things, including best workmanship. There are also some other awards, like viewers choice. Anyone on the cruise can cast a vote for their favorite block.
Below is one of my students, Cindy Williams. Cindy is holding the block that we made in our last class using machine applique techniques.
And Cindy brought along this quilt, Garden Medley, which she started in a class with me in Houston this past fall. I love to see finished projects. Nicely done Cindy and thanks so much for sharing.
Another great cruise behind me and I’m looking forward to next year when we go to the Panama Canal. I’ve never been there before so I am looking forward to another great adventure. If you are interested in joining me, Christine Porter, Mary Lou Weidman and Kathy Kansier please contact www.quiltcruises.com and come sailing with us!!