Back in the Sewing Room

See the raindrops?

It was a rainy day here on the Plateau, a great day to head to the sewing room to see what kind of trouble I could get into.  Actually, the S'mores retreat is next week and I needed to start gathering projects and equipment to take with me.

I will be picking up three quilts from the LAQ on my way into Nashville on Monday, so my first order of business at the retreat will be to trim them and then stitch on the binding.  I like to do things like trimming that require a large flat space at retreat where I can pull tables together rather than crawling around on the floor like I would at home.

I don't remember if I sent the binding along with these projects to the LAQ so I gathered up a few pieces of fabric that I thought might work for bindings.  In the process of shifting fabric from here to there, I unearthed this little quickie made from remnants of one of the projects I will be binding.

Winter Trees

I had made the snowball blocks several months ago, laid them out, and labeled the rows. Today I stitched them together and started thinking about borders and finishing.  Since some of the fabrics I am considering might need to be binding on the finished quilts I will be picking up, I stopped at this point and will take this little project along in case I need to fill time -- as if!

I have a couple of recently started projects that I could take along, but they all require some thought and concentration.  I'm sure you know, if you've ever been to a quilt retreat, that it is not the environment for thought and concentration!!!

Sew, I took a gander at my UFO closet and found one that should be easy to complete -- Mexican Stars.

Mexican Stars 

I started this quilt, designed by Annette Ornelas of Southwind Design, in a class at Tennessee Quilts Fest several years ago.  I got all the units made in class, but I didn't feel like my original cornerstones (in the center star) had enough "zing" so I've been searching for just the right fabric ever since ... well, not really "ever since" but whenever I thought about it.  I tried the lime green seen in some of the stars above, but I think a hot pink batik that has purple in it will win.  Watch for an update.

So, what else did you do today, Ms. Lakeside?

What to do with a trash bag in an emergency

 Mr. Lakeside and I attended an emergency survival seminar for seniors this afternoon.  One of the  valuable lessons we learned was the many uses of a trash bag.  Seriously, it was very informative and included tips if you get stuck in the car on an icy interstate, or if you decide to stay at home during an ice storm.  This is something we've needed to think about for many years but just didn't get around to.