Like many who are staying at home....I've found time to go through a massive amount of long ignored photos. Most subjects were related to the many quilt tours and cruises I hosted.
So, in no particular order I thought I'd share some with you....maybe you were even there in person as we traveled the world.
Imagine trying to get a bus load of quilters suitcases onto the one gondola assigned to us as we arrived in Venice. It was an incredible sight as the baggage piled higher and higher!
Sorry for the dark quality of this photo.....but it illustrates how far quilters will go to enjoy their hobby. We were in the lower bar area of the Mississippi Queen paddle boat which was our daytime classroom. It was one of the three 'cruises' I led traveling the Mississippi River. My workshop featured a simple red/white stripped pieced background with hand beaded blue stars (using various beading techniques).
Cruise participant Kathy Bruno (L) and myself (R) wandering the narrow picturesque streets of Oia in Santorini, Greece......... Sept. 1999 (Me trying to keep weight off my donkey damaged knee...see below)
......AND......this is how we reached the top of that Volcanic island. Yup....we took the donkeys! Oh....I'd know the back side of a quilter anywhere (on the left - name withheld). As we reached the top my donkey must have seen his girlfriend (or enemy) donkey because it banged with great force into it, jamming my knee between the two...honestly I hobbled the entire rest of the trip and to this day my knee still causing me trouble.
I wish I'd have done a better job of dating and identifying my photos.....but this was Halloween on a (I think) Panama Canal Cruise. I made a mask of black fabric and did some trick or treating (for adult beverages) while passing out candy to my students.
I do know the time and place of this one.....Paris hotel room in 2001. I hosted a tour to Iceland/London/Paris in Oct. 2001......only 1 month after 9/11. Quilters are a strong bunch, not one person cancelled out of the trip, however I almost did!! On 9/11 I started the first of a two day stem cell donation for a bone marrow transplant for my twin sister. I didn't bounce back very quickly, but I sure didn't want to miss this trip! My motto....have suitcase, will travel. Jan VanderHill took this picture.
I'll never forget walking to this quilt shop from our cruise ship and seeing a police car out in front. (Alaska - 1999 - perhaps Juno.) Surely the quilters from our group that headed this way earlier hadn't been squabbling over fabric? Were they?? Of course not, the owner's husband (a police officer) was home for lunch!
While the world is whirling with this unimaginable pandemic, how fortunate we all are to have time to sit back and enjoy positive and fun memories. We all have them.....and as the Spritzer Sisters say...SISU!!
4 comments:
You have certainly had some wonderful adventures. Does going through the photos make you want to go traveling again when it's safe? Or is it been there/done that/happy to stay home?
Kathy asked a question that is addressed to me a lot. The answer is, yes I couldn't have dreamed for a better career with such incredible opportunities. I retired mainly due to air travel....I just couldn't tolerate that hassle anymore. Cruise ship travel was becoming less high class, for instance, contracts not honored as to where and when we could have private classes etc. So to answer your question...yes, been there done that and and grateful for the opportunity and memories.
What great times you had, donkey wars aside!
Isn't it nice to look back on the memories!!!! I really enjoyed seeing this post and pics of you and your 'buds' from way back!!!
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