50th Anniversary Cruise 

Hard to believe that this summer is almost half over.  This first half has been one non-stop whirlwind of travel, family, friends, and lots and lots of fun!  This is my first week with hardly any planned activities; giving me a chance to do some catching up with things I’ve let slide by.

My last blog entry was about my husband and I getting ready to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  Well, we did just that by taking a Holland America cruise from Venice to Rome.  We started the trip by spending two nights in Venice before we boarded the ship.  We had not been to Venice since 2005, so it was wonderful to be there again.  We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Bonvecchiati, which is just a 2 minute walk from St. Mark’s Square.  It is located on one of the smaller canals leading to the Grand Canal.

One afternoon we made reservations for the rooftop of the 4 story indoor mall.  The reservation allows you to spend 15 minutes on the roof taking pictures of the absolutely amazing 360-degree view.

On our second night in Venice we, as well as many other guests, were taken by private motor-launch onto the Grand Canal, where we motored up to a privately owned 16th-century palace, where we were met by a member of the noble family (she looked exactly like Lauren Bacall).  We entered the courtyard and to our utter amazement the piece of property went back approximately 125 ft.  The garden was so lovely with meandering paths throughout the well-manicured plants and shrubs.

Musicians dressed in Venetian gondola-style clothing played, while waiters in white dinner jackets walked amongst the guests carrying trays of hors de oeuvres.  There was also an open bar and tables with more food.  The guests were dressed in their finery for such an elegant evening which added to the special event.

Before it was time to depart and return to our hotel we got to tour the inside of the palace.  It was 4-stories and all the furnishings were vintage.  The views from every window facing the Grand Canal were extraordinary!  The lady who had met us as we arrived now said goodbye to us as we thanked her and stepped onboard the motor-launch, returning to our hotel.  It was an evening I will fondly remember.

The next day we boarded the Oosterdam to begin the cruise.  It went to ports in Croatia, Albania, Greece, Malta, and Italy. 

On a tour to Olympia, Greece, we visited the site of the first Olympics and saw where the Olympic torch starts its journey.  

We had a delicious lunch in the picturesque seaside town of Chania, Crete on the day of our anniversary.  When we returned to the ship and went in our cabin we were greeted by two towel swans forming a heart sitting on our bed, made by our delightful two cabin stewards, who were quite excited about us celebrating our 50th anniversary.  That night we had dinner reservations at the Pinnacle Grill on the ship.  It was a truly wonderful day and one we will never forget.

The day we were in Palermo, Sicily, we found our way to the largest of the three outdoor markets, where we had been two years ago while on an OAT trip.  We had a yummy lunch of arancini and wine, followed by a cannoli later on.

Our last port before we got to Rome was Naples, Italy.  We had been there several times so this time we took a jet boat over to the Isle of Capri and spent most of the day there.  We had a delicious lunch with a breathtaking view of the harbor far below.  Later the jet boat whisked us back to the ship in time to get ready for the last night of our special 50th anniversary trip.

NOTICE THE BANNER HANGING BEHIND US!  

50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

As my husband and I approach our golden anniversary, so many thoughts and memories from our 50 years together come through my mind like an endless movie reel.  We’ve spent almost an entire lifetime together.  I’m just completely amazed that that much time has gone by.

We started this journey together quite young, especially by today’s standards.  But things were different back then.  We were more mature and ready to start a life together.  We were also quite independent and determined to be self-sufficient.  

I think about this long road we’ve been traveling for 50 years and how very far we’ve come.  We’ve both changed during this time, growing together as a couple.  You can’t help but change and rub off on each other in all those years.  And hopefully we've picked up some of each other’s best traits and qualities.  I’m the yin to his yang and we seem to balance each other out.

It would be most unusual to get through this lifetime without experiencing some hardships and difficult times.  It’s the fact that we did get through them, walking out of the darkness back into the sunlight that helped strengthen us as a couple and make the good times taste even sweeter.  The truly wondrous things we’ve experienced together have brought us unbelievable happiness and joy in our lives.

When I sat next to my husband at our nephew’s wedding recently, I thought about what words and their meanings I think are so very important as you live your life together.  Love is above all number one.  The others are:  Trust, Integrity, Respect, Communication, Compromise, and Laughter.

And so, hand-in-hand, our journey continues together, still sharing great new adventures, facing whatever lies ahead.

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

Once again a natural disaster has struck one of the beautiful countries I have traveled to.  It saddens me to see such a tragedy and the devastation it has caused to the people and the region.  As soon as I heard the news I looked through my Guatemala photos on the computer and then I knew exactly which volcano it was and where it was located.

My husband and I have been to Antigua, Guatemala twice.  The first time was with Overseas Adventure Travel and we spent three days there.  The second visit was just for the day because we were on a cruise ship.  The city is quite picturesque with a large central park and many shops and cafes surrounding it.

One of the mornings we were there we got up before sunrise to go to the top of a nearby mountain to watch the sun rise and to take pictures.  The city was laid out below and on the far side of the city, directly across from where we stood, was Volcan de Fuego.  While we were watching the volcano it belched out several puffs of smoke.  It is located just 10 miles from Antigua.  These are a few of the pictures I took that morning.

Volcan de Fuego looming above Antigua

So far what I’ve read is that Antigua was covered in a lot of ash but beyond that I’m not sure.  Someday when Guatemala has recovered from the volcano I would like to go back again.  The country has so much natural beauty to offer a visitor.

JULIE'S STAR

I remember many years ago at various craft shows or quilt shows there would be vendors selling jackets and other clothing items with decorative appliqués on them.  The appliqués I’m referring to were very specific too.  They were all cut out of the colorful vintage tablecloths from mainly the 1950’s.  I never bought one of the jackets though I was tempted.

Years later I inherited a small collection of my late mother-in-law’s vintage tablecloths.  They were assorted sizes and some were stained pretty badly.  But the colorful designs on each one were still lovely.  Only one tablecloth wasn’t stained at all and it was also the largest one, fitting my dining room table perfectly.  Perhaps it was only used for special occasions back then.  It is one of the tablecloths I like to use when my own family and grandchildren come to visit.  It’s meant to be used and enjoyed.

The other tablecloths I sadly relegated to the linen closet.  Occasionally I would take them out, look at each one, and then place them back in the closet.  I thought and thought about what I wanted to do with them, but just couldn’t come to a decision.  That is until one Christmas several years ago.  My sister-in-law (my husband’s only sister) has a big family Christmas at her home every year and I always bring her a special hostess gift.  On that particular Christmas I got the idea to take one of my vintage tablecloths, her mother’s tablecloths, and make a personal gift for her.  

I picked out the tablecloth with my favorite design and was able to carefully cut around the design, avoiding any stained areas. Then I went through my fabric stash and found all the different pieces of fabric in coordinating colors to go with the tablecloth design colors of lavender, light and dark olive green, teal, and pale blue.  I made a fully-lined tote bag, with the front of the bag being a quilt block using the tablecloth design I had fussy-cut and appliquéd onto the block.  Needless to say my sister-in-law was very touched to receive such a meaningful gift.  Since I don’t have any pictures of the bag I’ll just share a picture of the tablecloth design.

Fast forward many years since then and I still hadn’t done anything else with the tablecloths until recently.  I mentioned in a prior post this year that I purchased Electric Quilt 8 computer software and have been busy learning how to use it.  I’ve started off by creating some simple designs until I’m more familiar with the program.  Since I already have lots of different sketchbooks filled with years of my pencil designs I took one of those designs and worked it up on EQ8.  I was then able to print out the pattern and templates.  Then came the fun part of picking out the fabric to use for the star pattern I had created.  

As I stared into the closet at all my fabric stash my eyes fell upon a plastic container labeled “Julie’s tablecloth”.  Luckily after I had made the tote bag years ago I kept the tablecloth I had used in my sewing closet, hoping to use the rest of it again sometime.  To my surprise, when I looked inside the container there was also another one of the vintage tablecloths folded up beside the tablecloth I had previously used.  I must have put it in my sewing closet a while ago intending to cut it up and use it too.  And that is exactly what I did.

Here is a picture of the quilt block I made.  I call my pattern, “Julie’s Star”, for my late mother-in-law.  It still needs to be quilted and have the binding sewn on.  The vintage tablecloth is the center star floral design.  As you can see the colors are still quite vivid and pretty.  

This next picture is of the same star pattern using regular fabric from my stash to make the block.  I tried my hand at walking foot quilting and I like how very precise it looks, though it did take me quite a bit longer than free motion quilting does.  The binding is a deep aqua silk fabric with a lime green cotton beading.  I donated this quilt to my quilt guild to be sold at their booth at the La Jolla Festival of the Arts the first weekend in June.

Now that I’ve cut into and used two of the vintage tablecloths, I have plans to use all of the tablecloths in other projects, so stay tuned for future postings and pictures.

JUST DO IT!

I just returned home after my regular morning workout at the gym feeling completely invigorated and full of energy.  I’ve written before about my fitness routine and how it has helped me.  Well, I was inspired this morning to once again write about fitness and reaching a major milestone - my three year anniversary of working out at Fitness Quest 10.  I can’t believe it’s been three years and I still love exercising as much, if not more, than when I started.

This morning while I was lying on my back on the Total Gym piece of equipment doing weighted squats there was loud rap music playing throughout the gym.  Not my favorite choice of music by a long shot, I’ve learned to tolerate it and just zone it out.  After all, the majority of the clientele are much, much younger than myself.  But when I’m working out there age doesn’t matter, I am one of them.  The other day when I came home from the gym I told my husband that I was working out with free weights and right behind me was Drew Brees working out too.  I could have turned around and shook his hand, we were that close.  I found it rather amusing and wished I had a picture to show my sons.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but what I do know is that today, right now, I feel the strongest I’ve probably ever felt in my life.  Plus, I definitely have the most energy I’ve ever had before.  And I’m positive it’s because I get regular exercise.  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again..……it’s never too late to get started.  Just do it!

KEEPING BUSY DIANE'S WAY

Recently my husband came inside after spending hours working outside in the yard.  I, on the other hand, had spent hours in the house doing what I do best.  Now you may be wondering, what is that?  Guess he was wondering the same thing because he asked me what I had been doing all day.  My answer to that question was, "Oh, just puttering around in my sewing room, doing this and that."  And to that he replied, "Well, you're very good at keeping yourself busy."

I don't think I've ever had a day where I've been bored silly.  In fact it seems like I always have an endless list of things needing to be done.  Grant you some of those things that need my attention fall into the category I refer to as "work." They are those chores that require some effort and offer no pleasure.  Then there are the other things that need to be done and I refer to those as "enjoyable."  The effort they require is of a creative nature so of course they are always at the top of my so-called "to-do" list.

And that brings me back to my day spent "puttering around" in my sewing room.  I do an awful lot of that.  Some days I have accomplished a lot, other days not so much.  But it's ok if that happens.  I decided to look up the meaning of puttering since I've always liked that word.  It just sounds better than saying "I was just messing around today," which was one of the synonyms I found in my Webster's thesaurus (yes, I actually do use one of those).  My Webster's dictionary (use that too) says "to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner."  I will agree to that meaning describing what I do except for the "ineffective manner" part.  And the best description I found on good old Google was from a blog I read that said, "puttering is the art of passing time staying "busy" but without a set agenda."

Here is an example of what I recently did on a day of puttering around:

I had a very nice white t-shirt that was fairly new when I discovered that it had acquired a few orange stains right on the front in a very strategic place.  I decided to do something creative to camouflage the stains but the t-shirt hung in my closet for many months while I thought about exactly what I would do.  I finally decided to stencil the front and perhaps add some doodles with ink too.  But then I got the bright idea to add some kind of an artistic appliqué.  I sketched out a design and kept altering it until it was the right size to cover the stains.  I used a piece of fabric I bought in Guatemala and ironed fusible onto the back, traced the design and cut it out.  I laid it across the t-shirt top and it looked much too large and bold.  So I cut it into quarters, fused it on, and zigzagged the edges.  Next came the lavender rickrack I already had and the large button.  I like the result and the stains are definitely covered!

Another couple of days were spent making one of my girlfriends a few homemade gifts for her birthday this year.  I didn't have any patterns for the things I decided to make, but I figured that wouldn't be an issue.  So the first item I made was a small trash container to put next to her sewing machine.  My friend, Debbie Peterson, recently made one for me when I went to Asilomar and I just love it.  I was able to utilize my collection of selvage strips too, which is what Debbie did.  I sewed the strips onto a piece of stabilizer and then squared that up to the size I wanted to make the trash container.  

The second item I made was a small storage pouch, which is always useful to take to retreats or classes.

And the third item I made was the most difficult without a pattern, but I finally managed to get it done.  If you untie the corners it lies flat for packing in a bag.  Anything that might roll off a table can be kept secure inside it.

The moral of this story is not to worry about spending a day "puttering around" as long as it keeps you busy.  You just never know what you might get done that day.

THANK YOU ASILOMAR

Once again I have come home filled with enthusiasm after taking a one week class at Asilomar Conference Center in beautiful Pacific Grove near Monterey, in northern California.  And I have Empty Spools to thank for this.

Now, I’m not one to experience “writer’s block” or “creative block”, depending on the outlet I’m working in at the time.  But every once in awhile I have a lack of enthusiasm and nothing seems to interest me.  That is why my trip to Asilomar is exactly what I need once a year to recharge my batteries.  For an entire week I am surrounded with artistic people on a daily basis.  It’s like getting a giant shot of creative inspiration.

Of course there is also the “fun” reason I go each year too.  It can’t just be a total work week without some girlfriends, laughter, and wine being an important component for the complete Asilomar experience.  

My instructor this year was Gloria Loughman, who came all the way from Australia.  She is an excellent teacher and her quilts are extraordinary.  Her techniques of design and construction were quite different than any I have learned in other classes over the years.  I’ve realized the importance of taking a different teacher each year when I am home creating a new quilt.  I now have a “toolbox” of design and construction ideas that I can incorporate in my own work.  I may not like a certain class as well as other classes I’ve taken, but that experience is never wasted.

Gloria taught the class to make a small sample quilt so we could learn her method of quilt construction. We each picked one of the two patterns she had for us to make the sample.  Everyone chose their own fabrics from whatever they brought to class; and this is the sample quilt I made.

My larger project is a work-in-progress and will be shared with you at a later date when it's completed.

This is my first week home and I must say my head has been overflowing with ideas.  It’s a good thing I have certain obligations, or my newly revved-up enthusiasm might have me working non-stop!  I guess Asilomar and Empty Spools did their job once again to earn my heartfelt thank you.