Three Weeks and Counting

At one point, my cruise to Iceland was so far away. Now I am at 30 days and counting down. And, of course, there are a million things to do still.

This is my fourth cruise and I now have a better handle on what to pack and what not to pack. This time I'll leave most of my recording equipment at home. I am not a vlogger. I don’t take photos of my every meal, outfit and mini-crisis. Crossing borders with expensive equipment can also be problematic not to mention the space they take up. And every piece of equipment has two or three accessories to go with them.  Finding a good Wi-Fi connection to get sustained upload speeds is also an issue that can waste days. So, I am saying "no more" to packing all the video equipment, and letting myself relax.

However, I am teaching my Kapella Cluster Quilt on the days we are at sea. So I still need to bring my computer, iPad and lots of chargers for my phone, watch, headphones, etc. For the past couple of weeks, I have been making some cases and pouches from felt (that I had in my stash) to hold them. I just need to grab the pouch and know that I have everything I need. But, now that I have made them, I have friends and family asking me to make one for them…so, I thought maybe I should share them with you as well.

This week's video is about four of them. I made one each for my computer, iPad and cords. They are made with wool felt from The Felt Store. It was so easy to use since you don’t need to worry about fraying edges or linings. I also got to use some of the fancy stitches on my machine! And I pulled out a couple of other items in my stash to add a bit of flavour that I ended up loving. 

You won’t be surprised to learn that I have two quilts to finish before I go. And,...did I mention that I have not only my son visiting this week, but my daughter and son-in-law too? Plus, I am babysitting the dogs for the weekend. Honestly, I am looking forward to all of it. 

Karen's Quilt Circle

Last week, I had Erin Bauchan on the podcast. Just like quilters from decades ago, Erin has chosen a year-long project with a purpose. She is protesting the injuries and deaths from mass gun violence, by depicting them in a quilt. Like all projects, she has had to give herself some parameters and rules to follow, pace herself to keep on her timeline and, in this case, practice self-care for an issue that she feels strongly about, but is difficult to see. The project has already gained attention, near and far. It was an interesting discussion, and Erin has shown how quilts can also make a difference in the present day. You can listen to my interview with Erin here

Listen to any of my Karen's Quilt Circle podcasts on the YouTube Music app here. 

Upcoming events

My next Stitch’n Chat with Karen’s Quilt Crew is on Sunday, June 9th at 11:00 am EST. If you are a member, you will find the zoom link on the Just Get It Done Quilts community page.

Join me and Verstaet travels in September for our textile tour of the Netherlands and Belgium. We are staying in the beautiful old town of Zutphen and have our own private coach as we tour around. There are open air markets, quilt stores, lace, linen, African wax prints, museums and even a couple of local sew-lebrities to join us on the bus. I hope that you can join us too. Just click on this link for more information.

We had so much fun at the Foundation Paper Piecing Class. The class was recorded and you can watch it at https://youtu.be/HIO4NS0dEeI (only members of Karen’s Quilt Crew can view it.) It will be available until June 30th.

By popular demand, the next class will be an Introduction to English Paper Piecing class on July 21st from 11am to 2 pm EST. We’ll cover everything you need to start your first EPP project. It will be recorded and available to replay afterwards for a bit. 

Friday night, June 7th, I will be a guest over on Handmade by Ying with Donna. Here’s the link if you want to join us https://www.youtube.com/live/mPCTcxp4je8?si=4FVbTXwxeBg-qll0.

Take care