A quick trip report with some photos to share with you today.  First up is a photo of our boat, a 36i Jeanneau named “Wallys.”

Next is a rare photo of yours truly…. I am admittedly very camera shy.  In the following picture, I am at the helm sailing the boat:

Next up is a beautiful sunset off of Tortola looking towards Jost Van Dyke Island:

Here is one of my favorite locations, the bubbling pool on Jost Van Dyke.  We had this delightful natural jacuzzi all to ourselves, 2 days in a row:

Here are some of the items I brought home to add to my collection:

No sea glass photos yet, but here are some rocks:

That’s all for today.  No sand this trip, I brought back lots of sand on my last trip to the BVI 2 years ago.    Cheers!

Regards, Carla

Back in town from my trip sailing in the British Virgin Islands.  I’m happy, tanned and rested!!

The only oops during the trip was when I stepped on a sea urchin while near Foxy’s Taboo on Jost Van Dyke.   The locals hooked me up with a very nice local taxi driver/witchdoctor, who found me the home remedy.  LOL!  Can anyone guess the local home remedy/secret for dealing with sea urchin injuries?  (answer below)

The

answer

is

a product called “soft wax.”  Yes, it really worked, too.  The black sea urchin broke off the tips when it entered my foot.  If you try to remove the sea urchin tips, it makes it worse.  I had 5 punctures that was not pretty and looked pretty swollen.  Trust me, it was painful.

My first thought was that urine would make it feel better.  Luckily, Joe was dry, so I didn’t have to go there, you know?  Life is good…

So you have to melt the wax over each sea urchin hole with a match, taking care not to burn your skin.   The wax is supposed to harden, then it comes out.  However, we are talking the tropics, so it never hardened.  I finally just wiped it off and then treated it with neosporin.  The next morning, it was about 80% improved!!  Whew!

More stories and photos to follow.

One last note, I am fine tuning all my class lessons for the online Quilt Whisperer class which starts Monday.  The class is full, but I still have openings for the January class at Machine Quilter’s Resource.

Cheers, Carla

I can’t resist a visiting cow!  Here is a friend that decided to pay me a visit today:

I bet I am the only blogger who gets wandering cows on their lawn!  Moo-moo!

Whew, I was under deadline to send a fiber art round robin exchange I am taking part in.   I don’t want to reveal the theme- in case other swap members are looking.  Anyway, I finished it this morning, quilted it, then sent it on its way!

I wish I had more time, I would have sewn on coffee beans or beads.  Anyhow, it matches what the first person did, so I am happy.

Take care, Carla

My birthday will happen while we are on our trip, so I hit Joe up a bit early for a new Kindle.  It arrived yesterday, and I have already loaded it with my previous books, plus a dozen new ones.  Now I can carry 70+ books with me everywhere I go!

I need to draw myself a new birthday cartoon, but in the meantime, here is my recycled one, previously posted before.  I love my chicken balloons in this toon:

Before receiving the new Kindle for my birthday, I previously had downloaded the Kindle App for my iphone, and didn’t mind the small screen.  I finally converted to the larger Kindle when I saw they had one now that can work in the US and internationally when you travel.  I will actually download a book while on the boat, so that I can see how it works, and report back.

I love all my techno-gadgets!!!  My iphone, my kindle, my digital camera, video DVD recorder, several computers, I wonder how I lived without them all!  LOL

I am NOT, I repeat, not going to bring any of my computers with me on vacation.  I am unplugging from technology, well, except for my kindle and my camera.  As soon as I get out of the US, I will also put my iphone on airplane mode.  You do this to avoid some serious roaming charges.

When I get back from my trip, the countdown is on for my new class.  I will do some trial video uploads, and some file uploads to make sure everything run smoothly.  My online class is actually going to be slightly different than my “in-person” class, so I can’t wait to see how the students like the expanded class.  Probably the biggest honor I have been given is that several people who have seen me “live and in person” for this class have signed up for the online version.  How cool is that?

Off to get my driver’s license renewed, and pre-pack!  Hugs, Carla

Life is busy these days here at Feathered Fibers…. the long awaited bareboat trip to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is just a few days away!!  This is the reason why we took all those sailing lessons earlier in the year.

The term, “bareboat” refers to that you are chartering a boat without a licensed crew.  We first bareboated in the BVI 2 years ago with my sister and her husband, Dave and Yvette.  Dave and Yvette are professional captains on large motor yachts, so we bareboat chartered under their experience.

Yvette and Dave couldn’t come on this trip, instead they are traveling around Africa right now.  Joe and I still wanted to come, but we had to prove to the charter company that we had the education and experience to  not wreck their sailboat and land on a reef.  Hence all the sailing classes.

We actually had to write up resumes to send the company.  We were glad to learn that we passed muster.  So now all I have left to do is pack my bags, the snorkel equipment, sunscreen and coffee press.  Yes, you heard that right, I am bringing my favorite coffee press along, with some yummy Kona Coffee.  Vacation is not the same unless you have good coffee.

The trip to where the boat is at is rather lengthy.  First day, we fly to Miami, stay the night, then fly to Puerto Rico,  change planes for a ride to St. Thomas.  Grab the luggage, take a cab to the other side of the island, then take a ferry to the BVI.  Along the way, we have to get off the ferry, go through customs, then board the ferry again.  Once at the 2nd ferry dock, we again grab a cab to where the boat is docked.

Last time, we had a 44 foot catamaran, this time, we are trying out a 36 single hull Jeanneau.   You pre-order all your provisioning so that it is delivered when you get there.  Life is good.

Next year, Joe and I, and hopefully Yvette and Dave, will bareboat in the South Pacific.  Joe gets a sabbatical at his work, so this will be our big trip then.

Any other Bareboat charterers out there??

Fair weather and calm seas, Carla

Joe and I enjoyed our quick trip to AZ for the wedding!  It was a beautiful wedding, the groom was handsome, the bride very pretty.  We were very happy for them!   My son, Stephen, was  a groomsman, and he did a very nice job giving a toast to the couple.

What I enjoyed the most was the musical entrance to introducing the wedding party to the reception.  Starting with the Groom’s parents, they danced in,  a couple at a time.  Every couple tried to outdo the others, it was pretty funny.

I wore high heels, against doctor’s advice to the contrary, so after the wedding I am paying for being vain.  We suffer for our beauty, y’know?  LOL

It is nice to be home now.

While I am gone on my next trip with Joe, my birthday will have taken place in early November.  I have been wanting the new Kindle Book which you can use both in the US and International.  I thought it would be perfect for my trip to the Caribbean, right?  Joe agreed, so  it should be here on Tuesday! Woo-hoo!

I love to read- and typically read a couple of books per week.  I had been reading on my little iphone Kindle App, so the new screen will seem huge!   I will show you it when it arrives.

That’s all from here.  Hope your weekend was wonderful!  Carla

Hello everyone!!  Before I talk about what I am up to, I just wanted to thank everyone who signed up for my first online class!    The first class at MQ Resource is filled,  and so I agreed to do a second quilting class in January.

Here is a picture of some freeform quilting I did during this week’s video shoot.  This was my warm up- where I just turn the music on and just quilt:

Check out this pretty flower I saw last weekend when in the Bay Area.   This bush blooms this time of the year around the San Fran.  Bay, can anyone identify it??

Today, I took some time off from my class preparation to visit my favorite hair stylist, Mae, who also happens to be Rancher Ed’s daughter.  She made me beautiful again, fine tuning my natural blonde hair, and cutting it just right.  She is such a sweet person, she also agreed to watch the house and pets while I am on vacation, too.  What a friend!!

Don’t you just feel better when you go get your hair done?

Tomorrow, DH Joe and I fly to Phoenix, AZ for a friend’s wedding on Saturday.  I sure appreciate that the weather is lovely this time of year as I am so not a fan of 120 degree weather.

A shout out to my friend, Barb, who kindly sent me a box  of  selvage edges yesterday!!  I love selvage edges and what I can make with them!  Also,  another shout out to ArtBeads.com, who are helping me put together my student kit for a class next year.  This is a terrific site and I enjoy the support they give me.

Enjoy your day!!  Carla

Wow, I am speechless (well, almost…LOL) with the overwhelming response to my online quilting class on Machine Quilters Resource.  Suzanne (site owner) will be counting numbers, but I do know that the class is very very closed to being full.   The website will let everyone know when they stop accepting sign-ups, all the details are organized by the site.  I just wanted to thank everyone who signed up and tell you how much I appreciate the faith you have in me as a teacher.

I have received questions from potential students in other countries. There are a number of international students in my class, I know, so if there is still an opening when you go to the site, MQR has a process for handling different currencies.  If you go to the site and have any questions, you can ask the site administrators.

Thank you, once again, for signing up- or expressing an interest in my class on quilting design.  I feel passionate about the subject and look forward to sharing my approach with everyone who signed up.    Hugs, Carla

Hello!!  Registration begins tomorrow, October 16th, 2009, for my first online quilting class, titled “Quilt Whisperer 101″ on the Machine Quilting Resource website.  This is a class on quilting design, which starts on November 16, and ends on December 4, 2009.

Who should take this class?

Most quilters struggle with the decision of how to quilt a particular quilt top. This class will help you develop, or improve, the skill to “read” a quilt – whether you quilt for yourself or for clients.

I also will be covering quilting inspiration, creating a quilting journal, how to quilt my favorite designs, plus more!!

This class is for all machine quilters, no matter what machine size or type you own. This includes domestic, short, mid and longarm machine users.  There is no prerequisite for this class.

I hope you will join me for this class.  More details can be found on MQResource’s Longarm University page.

If anyone has a question about this class, please leave a comment and I will get back to you!  Happy Quilting, Carla

Every so often, I have to take time off from creative pursuits to deal with the details and glitches of life.  I decided to write this to share my experience with the PayPal dispute resolution system.  After all, what happens if I order something off the internet and it doesn’t arrive?

That scenario did happen to me recently, so I decided to give the PayPal system a chance.

Two months ago, I purchased online  a book from a sailing author/retailer and paid for it using PayPal.  When 2 weeks went by with no package in sight, I contacted the author directly and the games began.  Every email was different: yes, she mailed it was the answer one time, and then no, she needs my address again was the answer in another email.  No response to my request for a tracking number either.

Finally, after a month, a package arrived.  I opened it and saw it was the wrong book and not what I ordered.  So I contact the person yet again, and ask for the mistake to be corrected.  I also asked her to send me postage to cover the wrong book so she could have it back.  She responded back asking me to send her the book back and she would reimburse me.  Uhhh no… I don’t think so since her track record has been less than exemplary to date.  She can send the postage first.

I finally decided that enough time had gone by and the seller was not going to perform.  I looked on the PayPal site and saw they had a dispute resolution center for instances just like this.  It was simple to use and overall a very fair process.

Each side gets to state their perspective, with opportunity for evidence, if needed.  When the seller responded contradicting herself, first saying she had sent it and had a tracking number, then saying she wasn’t planning to ship it unless I dropped my claim and sent her the wrong book back first.  It also helped that the tracking number she provided to PayPal was bogus.

Today, I heard from PayPal that they ruled in my favor and was getting the monies refunded, plus I don’t have to send back the wrong item.  I also hope they go after this retailer/author since she is clearly unprofessional and restrict her account.

So now I feel better about buying things off the internet, and will continue to use PayPal as a great way to pay for items purchased.

Regards, Carla