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A Note From JuJu
May is always a crazy month, but this year, wow, I really got off to a BIG start by going on my first ever Sew and Sail cruise.
Last year, Sew and Sail reached out to me with the opportunity to join some amazing friends and sewists, including Becky Thompson of Power Tools With Thread, on a 9-night Bermuda cruise. Who could say “no” to that, right?
We departed from Cape Liberty, NJ on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas on Thursday, May 9th. Unfortunately, due to rough seas and the weather patterns, we were not able to stop in Bermuda. We went straight to Philipsburg, St. Maarten, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic and then returned to Cape Liberty on Saturday, May 18th.
In addition to visiting these gorgeous ports, we spent our “at sea” days doing what we love, with more than 85 of our new besties . . . sewing and embroidery projects! During class time we made a commemorative 2024 Sew & Sail ornament, a lovely Go Sew Something banner, a Here Comes the Sun mug rug, a Seas the Day mug wrap, and a scrappy notebook cover. There was also “open sew” time throughout the duration of the cruise. During that time folks worked on other projects of their choice, some they even brought from home.
While we were off on this big adventure, many of you shared well wishes, encouragement, and some questions. Here are a few of the frequently asked questions, along with answers:
- Where can I find info on next year’s cruise with Juju?
- More details on next year’s cruise will be coming soon at: https://www.sewandsailcruise.com/, but I can tell you it will be May 24 – June 1, 2025 on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas out of Galveston, TX.
- Did participants have to bring their machines?
- No, machines were provided by the amazing Amy Baughman of Amy Sews.
- Where was the classroom?
- We had a huge conference room on the ship, setup with tables and machines for each participant.
- What machines were used on the cruise?
- Janome 550E
- How many people attended?
- Over 85 sewing enthusiasts joined us on this cruise.
- How many projects did each participant do and over what span of time?
- A total of five projects were planned for the “at sea” days: a commemorative 2024 Sew & Sail ornament, a lovely Go Sew Something banner, a Here Comes the Sun mug rug, a Seas the Day mug wrap, and a scrappy notebook cover.
- What was your role in the classes?
- How was the weather and could you feel the movement on the ship?
- While the weather in all of the ports was beautiful, seas were rough on the way down and the way back on this particular cruise. We could really feel the ship rocking at times. It’s completely unpredictable and affects each person differently. There’s no way of predicting what the weather and sea will do.
- Please share links to all of the projects and designs used on the cruise!
- Watch for all of these projects coming this summer. In June I’ll be releasing the mug rug and mug wrap, the ornament, and the banner. In July watch for the notebook cover to be released.
The service and the food on the ship were, of course, fantastic. What an amazing time we had.
I feel incredibly blessed to have spent the week with this fabulous group of women and am looking forward to next year . . . as soon as I unpack and take a nap.
As a thank you for all of your wonderful support, and because you always make my day, I’m sharing one of the greeting card designs we stitched in open sew time on the cruise, the Made My Day Greeting Card (this is a free download, available on our website).
Feel free to share this post with your friends, mark your calendar for next year, and plan to join in the fun!