Sailing, Scaling and Stitching

We were very fortunate recently to go on our first cruise. We sailed on the incredibly large Voyager Of The Seas for 14 nights to New Zealand and Tasmania.

As well as being our first cruise, it was also our first time to New Zealand and our first time to Tasmania!

One of the highlights of our trip was climbing to the top of Mt Maunganui, scaling an extinct volcano in the Bay of Plenty region of NZ. It was both exhilarating and challenging . . .

And from the top, the most wonderful view!

We were lucky to enjoy great weather for almost the entire trip. The exception was the day we spent cruising through Doubtful, Dusky and Milford Sounds. Although that day was pretty cold and bleak, we were still able to enjoy some really spectacular scenery . . . even on such a moody day, there was plenty of beauty to be seen!

While on the cruise I was  able to take part in classes hosted by Needlework Tours - something like 22 tutors and about 320 stitchers, each with 3 projects to work on over 6 days of the cruise.

The first class I had was for a Counted Needlework Set with Christine P Bishop . . .

This type of stitching requires precision. There was a lot of counting and concentrating . . . a bit of unpicking . . . and a new-to-me stitch - Italian four-sided stitch, which I really liked. I finished the biscornu and made a start on the wallet too. We had a choice of 7 different colour ways for this project.  I chose the blue/green scheme of this set and am really happy with it.

My second class was with Judy Newman, working on the wonderfully gorgeous Museum Medallion quilt . . .

 

This was my first real foray into hand piecing. I was a bit nervous about it - mostly about maintaining accuracy of the pieces. But Judy was able to put my mind at ease . . . and I'm really happy with how the centre medallion is coming along. There's still A LOT of work to go on this, but I can't wait to see it finished as it's a really beautiful quilt.

My final class was the beautiful Wildflower Jewel Box with Fiona Hawdon . . .

I had a great time working on this embroidery . . . lots of colonial knots and and bullion stitches combined to make this wonderful collection of Australian wildflowers.

We made some lovely new friends on the cruise, and caught up with some old ones too! All in all, we had a great time - we went to new places, we saw some pretty spectacular sights and made some wonderful memories . . . which is as it should be!


Pattern: Counted Needlework Set
Designer: Christine P Biship
Publication: http://www.christinepbishop.com.au/index.html

Pattern: Museum Medallion
Designer: Judy Newman
Publication: http://averyfinehouse09.blogspot.com.au/

Pattern: Wildflower Jewel Box
Designer: Fiona Hawdon
Publication: http://peacefulthreads.blogspot.com.au
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FionasPeacefulThread