Spending the Day with Bonnie Hunter

You don't know if she'll say yes unless you ask and that's exactly what I did.  I'm a Bonnie Hunter groupie, not stalker, just groupie which sounds much more innocent in my mind. Knowing she was going to make a stop in Victoria at the end of her Alaskan Quilting Cruise I thought what a great opportunity to show her our beautiful city.  My hubby enjoys history and  he spent a couple of rainy winters since we moved here learning all about this amazing part of British Columbia so I asked him if he would provide a tour for  Bonnie.   Of course he said yes and that's all I needed to get the ball rolling.  After some emails back and forth she agreed to let us escort her, her husband Dave, his brother Myron and wife Pamela with a tour of our beautiful city, Victoria, BC.

 As we all know Bonnie is a super busy lady and it just exhausts me trying to keep up to her quilting life.  You can follow her here and find out for yourself.  She's a quilter extraordinaire, an instructor (loves to teach at Quilt Guilds), writes quilting books and patterns, blogs and inspires us all with her passion for quilting.   She's a master of scraps so her Leaders and Enders mantra means don't throw it away because it's a quilt ready to be born from the life of another.  She shows us how to use those scraps of fabric by gifting us with many free patterns on her website so make sure you peruse the list because there is going to be something in there that catches your eye and heart for sure!

 Here she comes folks and she is Victoria bound and I'm so excited.

Our first stop was Beacon Hill Park and the sun was glorious by then so out of the car we go especially after finding out this is the first serious sunshine Bonnie and family has felt since embarking on the Alaskan cruise.

 Picture taking time it was.

 Yep, Bonnie loves our flowers and we couldn't agree more with their beauty.

The ducks are checking Pamela out and she is making new friends.
Off we go to make an appearance at one of our great quilt shops.

 Here Bonnie is checking out the loot the ladies have bought and we all know how we love to show and share.

Well Bonnie you have just put Satin Moon Quilt Shop on the map by posing under that sign.

 Yes, Bonnie is always agreeable to letting us take her picture, thanks for that.

Bonnie with the owner of Satin Moon Quilt Shop, Linda.

 Oh, oh, she's found the Fat Quarter bin and you know there's always going to be something enticing in there and it will surely make its way into a scrappy quilt.

 My hubby Dale, the one wearing the hat chatting it up with Bonnie's BIL, Myron.

 Bonnie and her husband peeking inside Craigdarroch Castle while listening to Dale as he spins the web of the family history attached to this Victoria landmark.

Here Bonnie, Dave, Myron and Pamela are after a great meal at The Fireside Grill chosen for its unique history and setting.  Of course for me it wasn't the meal or the setting but having the opportunity to enjoy the company of Bonnie and family.  She was so generous in providing insight into her everyday life and I thank you so much for that Bonnie.

After a quick tour of downtown Victoria it was getting dusk and I had invited a few quilting friends to meet us back at the cruise ship for a photo op with Bonnie before our great day was to end.

 Ann has a show and tell with Bonnie, her Orange Crush quilt and wow was it stunning!

Here I am with my back to the camera, yes probably my best angle, while showing Bonnie how I used up some scraps from a Christmas quilt.  It is a tone on tone and since Bonnie held it in her hands I'll always own that quilt.

Bonnie was so generous in allowing pictures to be taken with us all.

Sue, in the pink coat is a true scrappy quilter and has many great projects to prove it gifting several of them to charity.

Miriam looks innocent enough here with Bonnie but she keeps us in stitches, no pun intended and she is one of the youngest gals in our group.  

Sorry but dusk was upon us and with all the excitement camera adjustment was the last thing on our minds.  Here is Della who is a fun gal to be around and so inspires us with her originality.

Here is Natasha with Bonnie and she  herself just organized her first Alaskan quilt cruise with her sister Miriam.

Just a little something to say thanks for the memories Bonnie and there will be lots of those.  

It was a Bucket list day and I will never forget the time you shared with us Bonnie you are generous, fun and down-to-earth and I know now why you are in high demand so if there are any quilt guilds out there close to the BC border with space available for a guest quilter when you are hosting a Bonnie Hunter class let me know because I'll be there in a heart beat!

Carry on Quilting!

Mug Mat Craze

Decided to spend a couple of days putting together some orphan blocks and working them into mug mats.  Here is what I have compiled and will bit by bit machine embroider them and put a binding on

This is what I call Quilt Recess! 

Some things in Life are Free

It's true, some things in life are free and this is what we received on our Alaskan quilt cruise in August from our local quilt shop, The Cloth Castle.

Pretty sweet and I'm sure glad my Hubby came along because of him I doubled up on the quilty goodness.

Quilt Cruise a Success

What a great way to spend a week with like minded people who share the love of quilting.  It also helps if someone else prepares delicious meals, does the clean-up, makes your bed in the morning and straightens it before you go to bed at night.  Plus a chocolate on the pillow doesn't hurt either right.  Just a few pictures of a great week and can't wait until the next time I can say Bon Voyage!

Our quilt teacher Natasha made the cruise a great success!

Oh yes and by the way, the next time you want a great trip use this character in black from West Shore Flight Centre, Miriam will make it happen!

Waiting for the van to take us to a local quilt shop and yes, it's serious business.

Some great finds at the quilt shop Rain Tree Quilting.

There is another fabulous quilt shop and it's just up those stairs and I brought home more goodies.

It was called Changing Tides and I could of spent a good couple of hours in there.

Here is a purchase from a yarn shop and don't you just love the colors, well...I do!

 A view of Juneau from the tram we took and though I don't like heights I forced myself to do this and the view didn't disappoint.

 Leaving Juneau just as the rains came,  our timing was perfect.

I so enjoyed the Coffee Bar on board and got my moneys worth for sure.

I did actually work on the project but the visiting was wonderful too, thanks Della. 

Pulling into Ketchican 

The Ketchican excursion  on The Aleutian Ballad was a highlight, they took us crab fishing, bait fishing  and the tale of their lives at sea was as entertaining as it was sad. 

The owners and crew of the crab boat.

 Our waiter Ivan made our Dining experience an Experience and of course Cruiser got in on the action.

In fact Cruiser quite enjoyed his first cruise...there was a lot of monkeying going on.

And this how you look at the end of a fabulous quilt cruise thanks to Miriam and Natasha.

Bon Voyage until next time dear friends!