When Life Gives You Lemons ...

... Change Your Plans

Let me first say that my heart goes out to those affected by the flooding in West Virginia. We have spent a bit of time in that area during the last 3 years, so I recognize many of the landmarks in the news photos and it's heartbreaking to see the devastation.

I know worse things can happen to me, but when your Christmas gift to your husband was tickets to The Greenbrier Classic pro golf tourney in White Sulphur Springs, WV -- which is now cancelled -- and you've already lined up SIL to take care of the Queen Mother for the duration, what's a person to do?  Here's what:

We'll start out in WV as planned and from there we'll visit several Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes between PA and St. Louis. My architect husband is excited about this change in plans, as am I. Especially since he has offered to indulge MY interests by stopping at quilt shops along the way!

I don't need more fabric, though -- well, maybe a few yards -- so my scheme is to hit shops participating in the Row by Row Experience, picking up a license plate and pattern at each. I might even be inspired to make a quilt and enter it in the contest; we'll see.

My quilting plans changed last week, too, as we scrambled to piece together a trip that would be interesting without being exhausting. In fact, I got very little done, maybe 10-15 minutes a day. I did finish assembling the center of the Wink & a Smile leftovers UFO. The borders will be the same fabric as the sashing. This is the third quilt from those 9-patch centers.

Jack's Back

I named it Jack's Back because the W&S blocks on point remind me of jacks.

Nothing will be accomplished in the sewing room this week at all. Since I had to empty out my clothes closet last week to give the HVAC guys access to the eaves storage area to install a new upstairs unit, I chose to review/reduce/recycle before returning my clothes to the closet. That included deaccessioning some costume jewelry pieces which led me to wondering about the value of some pieces I'd like to part with but might be able to sell for the metal in them.  I guess I need to wait till after vacation to check into that. Have you ever sold some old gold jewelry? I made enough to pay for shopping in Paducah once!

Dentist/bank/gas today, pack Friday, depart Saturday. No time to sew. I'll be taking a couple of quilts that need the binding turned, as well as some little HSTs that need trimming. Most exciting, though, will be my visit to the St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild next Saturday as well as dinner with blog buddie Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic.

Hope y'all have a safe and happy 4th of July!