Getting Ready for Retreat

STLMQG's in-town retreat called Sew Me St. Louis is this weekend, starting Friday morning. I'm getting ready....

First up is the special girl baby quilt that's due in November. I worked on it a little bit while I was in Florida, and now it's at the point of sewing the rows together. I'd like to get it to a finished flimsy and even sandwiched and basted before I go. Then I can quilt it while I'm there. If I don't get it that far along ahead of time, I'll just take it in whatever state it's in and work on it there.

I'm taking UFOs to work on. The triangles for this one were sewn at the 2017 retreat. Then the blocks were partially sewn into rows at last year's retreat. I put it on the wall and took photos when I got home to remember how far along it is for this year. The parts are all organized and ready to finish sewing together. No deadline; this will be a donation.

Another very old UFO just needs a little attention to become a flimsy. This was made about ten years ago for a demo on how to sew mitered stripe borders, so only the final miter seams are needed. I left it unfinished thinking I could use it again for future demos, but haven't, so it's time to finish and donate it.

I'm also taking a bee project from last year. The "Sew Bee Its" made blocks for me using Jaime's Have Faith pattern and I need to make a few more blocks and set them together into a flimsy. This will also be a donation. 

I need to finish cutting a few more pieces for the Have Faith project before I go. That's why the baby quilt may not get basted in time. I prefer to have things for retreat pre-cut and kitted up because I've been known to make cutting errors due to distractions and not paying attention. Basting I think I can handle at retreat, especially a small baby quilt, and on Friday it won't be crowded and I may be able to find a spare table to work on. 

I'm giving a demo on machine finished binding with glue basting on Sunday morning, I have the SSSSM quilt all quilted and the binding sewn on, ready to demonstrate how to finish it. Once finished, it'll get washed, then it will go to Project Linus at our November meeting.

Last but not least is my Paint Chip Challenge mini. I have my paint chips; the assignment is to use a complimentary or analogous color palette. I have both - Aqua and Coral are complimentary, and Indigo/Aqua/Green are analogous. I have nice differences in value to work with for contrast. The mini can't be any larger than 10" and must be quilted. I have no idea what I'll end up with, but I want it to be improvisational. Yes me, improv. Someone had a Kona card at the meeting where we drew paint chips so I matched to the nearest colors, but I found what I needed in my stash. 

My older Bernina is still packed from vacation. It has a great walking foot and I want to use this machine to quilt the baby quilt. Machine, accessories, and power cord, check. 

My project packing is in progress. These "cube bags" are great - each one holds three standard project boxes, or two project boxes and my sit-upon cushion. One bag is ready to go; the other still needs the stuff for the baby quilt and the project box for the Have Faith top. 

Since I'll need an iron for my demo and they asked for volunteers to bring ironing boards and irons, I signed up to bring mine. I have my scraps all baggied up for the Scrap Scramble on Saturday night. So that's even more to load into the car and take along. I'll pick up snacks to share on my way in Friday morning. Am I missing anything? 

I don't think I'll run out of projects to work on, but if I do, no problem. Since the retreat is in town, I'm sleeping at home in my own bed each night, so I can always take something more the next day if I need to.  

Looking forward to fun at Sew Me St. Louis with my STLMQG friends!