Evading the Basting

I've done everything I can think of today to avoid the dreaded pinning and basting.  I think I can baste on my kitchen island.  I know it's wide enough, but there's just no other way to do the pinning other than to get down on my hands and knees.  I'm going to explore having some kind of table made to put in my basement.  It's dry and open and clean (sort of), and would be so much easier on my aging bones.

I pieced the backing for the quilt, and then remembered the Christmas tree skirt.  I spread that on my kitchen island and started to pin. When I was almost finished, I realized I hadn't ironed the piece when I completed it.  So one more instance of having to undo a mistake.  It would seem that I can only learn by making mistakes, and I should be an expert by now, with the number of errors I've made.

To avoid the basting, I decided I needed to piece some more of the Double Wedding Ring arcs.  I ran out of pieces and had to cut more. There's still so much cutting and piecing to do for that quilt.

Then this afternoon, look what the mailman brought me.  Package No.2 (of 6) from the Scrappy Christmas block swap.  The 2 on the top row (Pkg1) were made by Jenn Burns-Dyson, and those on the bottom row (Pkg 2) were made by Brook McLane.  Both sets are so pretty, and I don't have one of the fabrics they've used.

So, I guess I 've deferred starting on the basting as long as I can, so maybe tomorrow...