Quilts and other creations

Quilting and associated crafting is an on/off hobby for many years. I'm just an amateur, but combining colors and designs into useful objects made me happy. In the earlier years, I used to quilt bedspreads, but had a difficult time finishing them. Nowadays, I make smaller items that I could finish. Below is a selection of items I have made through the years, starting with the most recent.

I just finished a cot-sized bedspread for my RV mattress, the colorful floral fabric was purchased during my trip to Japan a couple of years ago. It did not turn out the way I like, I found the colors/design too busy. But it will have to do until I make another I like better.

Two mini quilts completed recently for the Quilters Guild of Plano's annual auction this summer (forgot to take a photo of the finished blue quilt)

Table runners were easy to finish. I made these for friends, for special ocassions.

I am using these mug rugs myself, quilted from 100% Japanese fabric.

Made a lot of coasters, from scrap fabric and leftover batting. Mostly given away, the red set below for Chinese New Year.

Also taught two workshop on how to make coasters and pocket tissue holders to small groups with the Ladies of Bowie.

A coordinated set of bowl cozies with 4 coasters and a mug rug made great gifts.

Bowl cozies, potholders and placemats were a big hit as were the dish scrubbies that I crocheted during RV trips or in waiting rooms (the materials were very portable). I used to have a website that sold some of my creations. However, I could not keep up with demand, producing them started to feel like work, so I stopped selling. Now I only make them when I felt like it, sometimes on request and gave them to friends at Christmas, on birthdays, or when I visited them during my RV trips.

Below are some items I made years ago. A kings size bedspread for my sister-in-law, hand quilted while I was living in Italy. It took quite a few years to finish!

A twin sized bedspread for my daughter when she went to college. I did another for my son, but don't have a photo of it.

Another twin sized bedspread, hand quilted while stationed in Italy, a favorite quilt that I'm still using.

Finally here are two items I crocheted during COVID, in between sewing face masks for the community. Created just for recreation, never actually wore them. I think they got donated during our move.

Ocean Cay, Bahamas

We had a full day in Ocean Cay, the MSC Marine Reserve in the Bahamas. We reserved some beach chairs (for a fee) but there was not much information nor signage on where to go. We had to stop staff members to ask as we meet them. Finally made it to the beach, snag the chairs closest to the water. I'm afraid it was not very exciting. There was not much to do, especially for me since I'm not a sit at the beach type of person. Where's the snorkeling and kayaking? I took a walk around the shores, found some common seashells but could not keep them since this was a marine reserve.

Lunch was served on the island, food was OK, not great. All of us went back on the ship early. I went to the pool and jacuzzi, for once the area was not crowded. As we looked over the side of the ship, it appeared like they were creating another island nearby. We enjoyed a lovely sunset as we went for dinner.

We had our second speciality dinner, in the Japanese restaurant. Again the food was okay, not spectacular.

Nassau, Bahamas

I did not sign up any excursion at this port of call. Instead, I took a walk around the town, visited the Straw Market, collected my free gift at the Diamonds International store and did a lot of window shopping.

I walked past the tourist/shopping area and found the American Embassy as well as the Princess Margaret Hospital. Not very exciting, but I got my exercise in.

El Sonador River Experience, Dominican Republic

After two days at sea, we stopped at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I've done a walking tour of the city during a previous cruise and was disappointed at how "touristy" that was. This time around, I signed up for the El Sonador River Experience which took us into the rainforest in Yasica Arriba.

The excursion started by boarding a small open air bus at the cruise terminal, the drive to the river took about an hour during which the guide gave us a short history of the island and the way of life here. Upon arrival at the base of operations, we were given life vests and safety helmets. I changed into my rash guard, running tights (to protect from impact with rocks, etc) and water shoes. I was a little worried about jumping into the river and floating down rapids: breaking a limb would definitely mess up my vacation. We hiked along a trail to where we would get into the water. The areas where we went in were quite safe although the water flowed fast in some sections. We went in and out of the river in three spots along the trail. At least two staff members were in the water with us. The river was beautiful, with clear and in parts, blue/green water, cool and refreshing. We all, especially the kids in the group, had a great time!

The excursion included a simple lunch which was very good: grilled chicken, fried plantains, beans and rice and salad.

We boarded the bus back to the cruise terminal. Near to town, we persuaded the driver to stop at a roadside stand that sold puerco asado (roast pork) that we were told was commonly sold during the new year. Some of us bought a plate of the meat that was served with boiled bananas (interesting).

At the terminal, I had time to walk about to take more photos. I really enjoyed this excursion, given the chance, would do it again!