02

Nov. ’26

Ensenada, a quick trip?

Off the coast of Ensenada somewhere

I made this comment on my cruising post a short bit ago and a reader sent me a message asking about it: Because it was so short and Ensenada a quick trip from Los Angeles, we decided not to disembark on port day.

Tijuana

They wondered about Ensenada being a quick trip from Los Angeles. Well, I’ve spent a couple of long weekends in Tijuana recently and Tijuana is just a few hours south of Los Angeles. Ensenada is an hour and a half south of Tijuana. We lunched in Puerto Nuevo once and it’s about half an hour north of Ensenada. So by the time we went cruising we didn’t feel super interested in disembarking to visit a town we could always take a long weekend trip to by car. We just wanted to hang out on the ship and enjoy the amenities.

The various excursions offered by the cruise in Ensenada were tempting but not the US $ tourist markup. Especially when we knew we could always make the trip ourselves another time and pay a fraction of that.

I know there is a lot of fear around traveling in Mexico. I’ve not yet experienced anything negative and hope never to. But lately, I’m pushing against my fears and boundaries and exploring new and different things. So far, nothing terrible has happened and I just try to stay aware, diligent and travel smart.

Travel on, universe,

Melanie

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26

Oct. ’26

Knitting Update: Soldotna

Knitting while cruising

I recently posted this picture and wanted to expand on the knitting.

This is Soldotna and in doing a search on previous posts here’s what I found:

Casted on: 11/2025

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Wool purchased when my LYS closed in Dec. 2019. The brown is color 33115. Teal- 33139, pink/purple-33153, white/cream- 3301

I also rediscovered my knitting to do list from late 2025/early 2026. I was tempted to repost that here but decided that can wait for another day. The last few months I’ve been doing less crafty stuff and have just been busy. And honestly, posting that list will overwhelm me and may cause a delay in posting.

For my 50th year, I have plans. One of which is knitting on a single project for 50 hours. 50 for 50! Soldotna is the first project. And hopefully will be done within that time frame.

Soldotna 10/19/2026

And this is where I started at the beginning of my 50th year. It’s beautiful. I love it and as always I have no idea why it got put away for so long. Really, I do know why… other more important things came up but every time I start playing with it again I enjoy myself immensely.

Knit on, universe,

Melanie

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22

Oct. ’26

Cruising

I recently celebrated a big birthday. But the cruise I went on was not to celebrate my birthday but a friend’s birthday. I discovered they never celebrated their birthday. They didn’t as a kid nor as an adult. As someone who not only celebrates their birthday but celebrates for an entire month, I thought this was a travesty and we made plans to go cruising for their birthday.

We ended up on a short 4 day cruise to Ensenada on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas. I’ve gone cruising before and while it was nice, I didn’t consider myself a cruiser. However this short stint going offline was an amazing experience. I would go on short cruises again.

Because it was so short and Ensenada a quick trip from Los Angeles, we decided not to disembark on port day. We stayed on board the entire time and enjoyed the ships amenities. We loved the adult only area and the hot tubs and laying around watching the sea or just napping as the day went on.

The food was okay. It was a bit disappointing but we never went hungry and kept a nice little buzz going the whole time.

Cheers,

Melanie

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11

Oct. ’26

2026 Quilt Retreat #5 – Local Mini of the year – an update

Work really got in the way at this mini retreat and I missed Friday entirely. Came in Saturday and started with my knitting.

The plan was to prep binding and that got done. I still need to press it and attach it to the quilt.

The next thing I planned to work on was the William Morris BOM from Quilt Emporium 2025. I got the top done.

2025 William Morris BOM at Quilt Emporium

Now I get to figure out borders. The designer stopped at this point but I’m going to add a border or two.

And that’s all I got done. Everything else below will have to wait until the next time.

———-/

2023 Saturday Sampler from Quilty Pleasures.

step 6 – done
step 7- done

Below are the items on my mini retreat task list so I don’t lose it for future.

#1 – Jane Austen’s quilt – Hampshire Blocks

Finished Block 1- Chawton Block – 2/9/26

I didn’t bother touching this this weekend as the step I’m on is to sew these pieces together and that’s an at home project.

#2 – Tula Pink Butterfly 2.0 – I found where I left off and completed the large log cabin blocks

#3 – Spooky Halloween – Row 2, block 3 – take a picture

Row 2- Block 1

I’ve started it and I’m needle turning the traditional method. I want to prep the next block as I work some in Block 3.

#4- Tuella and Friends.

#5- “Allietare” Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt from 2015 – My goal with putting this here is to start getting it into my queue. I don’t have time for it now but it’s on this list to start making its way from my head, to actually working on it.

quilt on my friends

Melanie

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04

Oct. ’26

2026 Quilt Retreat #5 – Local Mini of the year

I failed to post about the mini retreat #4 that was in June and that’s ok. But this coming weekend is mini retreat #5. I’ve been out of town traveling so I missed several quilt retreats and cross stitch retreats I normally go to year after year. I get sad and I’m filled with FOMO but I’ve done a lot these last few months getting out of the house and being active. I’m trying to do more of that but my crafting life suffers unfortunately.

This upcoming retreat I plan to spend some time prepping the binding on my newly quilted Plum Fusion

This top was finished in 2024 or 2025 and is humongous as a King sized quilt. I decided to bite the bullet and send it to my local long armer to be quilted. She did a fabulous job. It was pricey but well worth it because now it’s almost done.

The next thing J plan to work on is the William Morris BOM from Quilt Emporium 2025. At the last mini retreat I spent a lot of time getting started on the finishing part.

June, 2026

It’s ready for me to start putting the inner top together.

And after that I hope to work on the 2023 Saturday Sampler from QP.

step 6 – done
step 7- done

And I think that’s all the time I’ll have this weekend.

Below are the items on my mini retreat task list so I don’t lose it for future.

#1 – Jane Austen’s quilt – Hampshire Blocks

Finished Block 1- Chawton Block – 2/9/26

I didn’t bother touching this this weekend as the step I’m on is to sew these pieces together and that’s an at home project.

#2 – Tula Pink Butterfly 2.0 – I found where I left off and completed the large log cabin blocks

#3 – Spooky Halloween – Row 2, block 3 – take a picture

Row 2- Block 1

I’ve started it and I’m needle turning the traditional method. I want to prep the next block as I work some in Block 3.

#4- Tuella and Friends.

#5- “Allietare” Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt from 2015 – My goal with putting this here is to start getting it into my queue. I don’t have time for it now but it’s on this list to start making its way from my head, to actually working on it.

quilt on my friends

Melanie

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29

Sep. ’26

Monthly Door Banner – November – finally finished the top!

November door banner – finished top

Did a bunch of traveling this summer but when I got back, my friend invited me to a private Big Bear retreat. I was honored and thrilled and only took the November door banner with me. It allowed me to fully focus on this project. I couldn’t get it all done that weekend but so got a lot of it done. And the following week, spent a few evenings at my sewing machine and finished it up. Now I’ve got to quilt them all. 🤣

Here are the ones that I’ve finished and posted about before:

January
February Banner
March Banner
April Banner
May Banner
June Banner (shown in a previous post last year)
July Banner (shown in a previous post last year)
August Banner
September Banner
October banner
December Banner

So I’m almost done!

I still need to do

November

and then time to quilt!

Happy quilting

melanie

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18

Jul. ’26

Monthly Door Banner – November

step 1

Life took over and I kinda stopped quilting for a while. Not intentionally but it seemed I never had time and my sewing room was (is) still a mess. I never put it together after the great move of 2025. My bedroom is perfect and I love it. But my sewing room has been left alone. I have started back, albeit slowly, doing one step at a time.

step 2

I’m really almost done so there’s no excuse except the desire to do anything left me.

Here are the ones that I’ve finished and posted about before:

January
February Banner
March Banner
April Banner
May Banner
June Banner (shown in a previous post last year)
July Banner (shown in a previous post last year)
August Banner
September Banner
October banner
December Banner

So I’m almost done!

I still need to do

November

and then time to quilt!

Happy quilting

melanie

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