Clamshells on the road to Texas

I am leaving for the quilt show in Houston, Texas on Tuesday. I am excited and afraid at the same time. I want to have a good time but I am a little afraid I will be overhelmed by everything and mortgage the house while I am there. So, I have asked a few of my non-quilting friends to call me daily and say, "You don't need that". I hope it works.
When I get back I am going to the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach, Fl. Last year I went for three days, was a white glove lady, took three classes and shopped until my purse ran dry. I did not buy a lot but I went to a lot of demos, test drove a lot of long arms, made a wish list a mile long and went home a tired, happy lady. This year I am only going for one day, Saturday, with my friend JoAnna. I want to enjoy the quilts more and spend less.
This is the third trip I have taken with the ladies from West Palm Beach. Last year I went with them to Lancaster. In September I went with them to the quilt show in Jacksonville, Fl. Now I am going with them to Houston, Texas.
I decided to work on my Clamshell Quilt on the road to Texas. I have 200 lights and 205 different color clamshells.

My goal is to have the top edge of all 405 clamshells basted down by the time I get back. I have basted some of them. Since I will not have an iron of the bus I plan to finger baste them and sew them down. I had planned to work on my T-shirt quilt but I could not get it together. Nothing seemed to work for me. I wouldn't or couldn't find the right stencils. I could never decide what color thread to buy. The back wasn't ready (yes it is) or the patches were in the wrong place (no they are not). I had more excuses than Carter has liver pills. So, while I was pondering over the little things, time slipped by and I missed getting everything together. This year I plan to do better.

Happy quilting,

Jeri