Are you like me? If the pattern says you need a yard, do you purchase a yard and a quarter? You never know. I purchased nice name-brand fabric, and when I got home to cut it up, I found a hole in it. There are natural flaws in woven and hand-dyed fabrics. Then there is the random ‘booger’ that happen when fabric is printed. I’m picky when it comes to textiles. Plus, I’m the Queen of the Mis-cut. Those rulers get me all the time. I buy the insurance. For me, that’s between 4-9 inches.
Free Monthly Download
Speaking of insurance, did you know we have a proofing and testing team? Having up to sixteen quilters of various skill levels, testing and proofing every new Material Girlfriend pattern is a blessing. The MG Proofing and Testing Team that strives to adhere every new pattern to high error-free standards is excellent insurance against quilting pattern problems! They do this for you. They proof and test for free so that you don’t have any sewing issues. Aren’t these women amazing? The Free Monthly download is their latest proofing and testing accomplishment.
Introducing 3YD Papa! We currently have thirteen published 3YD quilt patterns and 3YD Papa with be added next month. Get it while it’s free! Go to the 2025 Free Sew Along tab above or click the link. The 3YD Papa pattern download link is at the bottom of the May 15 posting on the 2025 Free Sew Along page.
The fabrics we chose for this project are high-quality batiks. The cream and the mossy green are from Hoffman Fabrics. The navy has mossy green sprinkled throughout and is a lovely compliment to the other two fabrics. The navy is a batik from Riley Blake. Our 3-yard kits are 3 1/2 yards of high-quality cotton. The additional 1/2 yard in this kit is for the binding.
Quilting Cruise
The Material Girlfriend quilting cruise finally came! We had waited for over a year for it to arrive. The cruise was from April 27 – May 4, 2025. To be honest, I was a little nervous about the whole thing. I’ve cruised before, but I had never been on a quilting cruise. As the teachers, we didn’t quite know what to expect. Now that I know the what, when, and wheres, I have a list of Quilting Cruise Recommendations.
Do
- Take a Stitchin’ Heaven Quilting Cruise. A+ with a round of applause goes to the amazing Stitchin’ Heaven team. The three women, Dawn, Dana, and Debra worked so well together. They were very helpful and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. You could easily tell they loved what they did.
- Buy the kit. I first thought it was a bit pricey. But, holy cow, it was super accurate in cutting and it saved so much time. I realized the time saved and errors-in-cutting saved were well worth the money. The pre-cut kits enabled the students to FINISH their quilt tops during the 7-day cruise. I was stunned by how much sewing was accomplished when everything was already cut out. If you don’t like the fabrics offered, pre-cut all your fabrics before the cruise.
- Bring your chair support. The chairs were padded but didn’t have wheels or lumbar support. If you plan on sewing into the wee hours, the added comfort is worth packing.
- Bring your spouse. If you don’t have a quilting friend you’re interested in rooming with, bring your arm candy. Our spouses had no trouble finding entertainment while we were busy sewing. Husbands would come and ‘check in’ on their honeys, and hang out for a minute or two. Our guys are already looking forward to the next quilting cruise.
- Let Stitchin’ Heaven know if you’re traveling with a group like your guild or quilting friends. You’ll be assigned dining tables and sewing stations near each other.
Don’t
- Don’t over-pack. Mike and I both brought too many clothes and shoes. Our shuttle pictured. Eek.
- Don’t forget to pack an extra project. As teachers, we understood we weren’t getting sewing stations. Wrong. There were plenty of backup sewing machines we could have used. So when we weren’t teaching, we had no project on which to sew and hang out with everyone. The teachers are hired to teach during the three days at sea 9-4, then encouraged to check in on occasion. We saw shows and took tours while in port, but if we had a sewing project, we’d have hung out more during the ‘off’ times.
- Don’t upgrade your room. Open for debate. We upgraded to a room with a balcony and it was very nice but I felt we didn’t spend much time there to justify the added expense. It was amazing to open the door at night for the fresh sea air though. I might upgrade again…idk.
- Don’t Get a Drink Package. I was so busy that I don’t think I got my money’s worth for my coffee package. Mike definitely drank his soda package value. The alcohol packages are very pricey. It was cheaper to buy our pre-dinner jalapeno margarita or the drink of the day (Texas Ice Tea was amazing) than to purchase the alcohol package. Mike and I just don’t drink that much.
We taught Confetti Star and Bent Bento. The kits were the Green/Orange Sour Cream & Salsa layout for Confetti Star and the cobalt blue for the Bent Bento. I love the multiple layout options that were chosen from the patterns! Many brought their own fabrics and did a great job choosing!
Several of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships have a conference center. The conference center rooms were open to the Stitchin’ Heaven Quilters 24/7. You can sew as early or as long as you like. The only thing the ship required was that the large irons had to be unplugged at 10:30 pm. The small personal irons could be plugged in and used as long as you were at your station. Your sewing station was half an 8′ folding table. There was plenty of room to get through a row with quilters sewing back-to-back. The Bernina sewing machines were brought by Stitchin’ Heaven so you only need to pack your basic sewing supplies. Most quilters completed one quilt top. Many completed both quilt tops. Stitchin’ Heaven gave goodie totes (Wow!) that included a wall-size project that one of the quilters completed, as well. You don’t have to sign up for both classes. You can choose to do one. Extra kits are brought on by Stitchin’ Heaven so if you have regrets once seeing how the other quilt is made, you can easily add the project. Plus they bring the insurance of an oopsy kit for shortages or mistakes.
Our Next Quilting Cruise
We’re not on the books just yet. We’re hoping to get signed up as teachers for an Alaskan cruise in August of 2026. We’d like to teach Double Bear Paw and Bundles and Bows. However, that is just wishful thinking. Emails have been sent but no contracts have been received or signed. As soon as it is a done deal, I’ll send out an email. When it is available sign up through Stitchin’ Heaven even if you’re not 100% sure. This past Western Caribbean quilting cruise filled up in just a of couple months! You can always cancel and get your deposit back. Check out Stitchin’ Heaven’s Quilting Cruises to get an idea of costs. We’ve over a year to save our quilting dollars. They have LOTS of destinations to check out. We recommend their quilting cruises even if you don’t choose to cruise with us to Alaska. 🙂
Buy the Travel Insurance
Buy the travel insurance. I know, the price goes up the older we get. You’ll take dozens of trips and never need it so you’re tempted not to purchase it. Don’t. Buy the Travel Insurance.
Our parents came with us on this cruise. After a show, Mom (Carolyn Wooldridge) and our friend Diana were walking back toward the elevator and Mom tripped on her shoe and fell to her knees. She had had both knee replacements decades before this fall, but she landed just right and misaligned the right knee unit and broke her femur where the knee connected to it. Mom was unable to move or bend her leg. I’ve heard the femur is the most painful bone to break. Mom would agree.
Royal Caribbean was amazing. Their emergency service was superb. Mom couldn’t have received better care. Her only complaint for the ship hospital was that she was cold (from shock) but they brought her several blankets.
Fortunately, the next port was Cozumel. She was taken by ambulance to an American hospital where she had excellent care. Her room included a sofa bed and a recliner. Both our dad and Lora’s husband, Kelly, disembarked with Mom. They stayed with her in her room for a couple of days before they flew home to Sacramento, CA. Mom had surgery in Sacramento where they added a rod to her femur and fixed the knee unit.
Here is why you want the travel Insurance. Just the emergency medical flight was almost $70,000. Thank goodness Mom and Dad had travel and medical insurance that covered this emergency.
Mom’s accident was a rare misadventure. Don’t decide not to go on a cruise for fear of injury. We all had a fabulous time and will cruise again with Royal Caribbean and the Stitchin’ Heaven team.
Free Shipping and Free Shipping Insurance
Our sale this month is free shipping and free shipping insurance! Since 2023, I’ve added shipping insurance to all our kits shipped. We’ve had too many porch pirates and lost or mangled packages that created a big enough loss for Material Girlfriends that our shipping fee always includes insurance now.
No code is needed. No shipping charge will be added to any order until June 15, 2025. Happy shopping!
Insurance
It’s added security. I never really gave insurance much thought until we needed it. I buy the insurance of extra fabric. I always purchase the shipping insurance. However, I’ve not purchased travel insurance beyond the occasional airline ticket. We had a great discussion with Dana, Dawn, and Debra on travel insurance. You can buy yearly travel insurance that is good for any travel 50 miles from home and beyond. Allianz is what they used but I need to do my research first. I will be looking into it. Lora and I travel quite a bit for Material Girlfriends shows. Now that we’re adding yearly cruises (I hope), yearly travel insurance may be added too. I hope we can travel together soon!
Happy sewing,
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