June is History

 I set goals, I share my goals, and then I try to figure out how to meet those goals.  Sound familiar?  It's a behavior we learn from the adults in our lives by their examples and then we spend the rest of our lives measuring ourselves against those examples.  Whew!?!

I moved into my current home when my mother was about my age and as I accept my current age, I often think back to a mental image of her helping me put in a new flower bed.  Somehow we got my Dad's BIG Troybilt tiller over here and were using it to break up the lawn.  The image that sticks with me is I'm sitting on the front porch drinking cold water and mom is guiding that monster tiller across the front lawn.  Sorry I've failed you mom -- I could not manage that tiller at this age?!?

From that point, I turned down her offers of help frequently because I didn't have her drive and I hated feeling guilty about it.  I wish I knew if she really was stronger and healthier or if she was just stubborn?

So what does that have to do with anything?  Four days ago on June 26, I looked at the "log book" and realized while I had promptly eliminated one project at the beginning of June, I had not finished anything off that blasted 2022 list of UFO's and wanna-makes. 

My driven-goal-side kicked into gear!!  I spent the next two afternoons (finally) making a Mini Maker Station designed by Lilyella.  She featured the pattern on her blog several years ago and every now and then she has a make-along for it so I bought her hardware kit (HERE) and added it to my pile.   The pattern is HERE.  It's a clever design with a metal strip inserted in the base and magnets to enclose in a cute fabric box and pincushion so they "stick" to the quilted piece.  I took a couple short cuts -- opted out of the fabric box (which I could add later) and stitched one of the magnets into a pocket on the bottom of this darling pincushion I already own.  

At this point, I have to say waiting so long to make this was "stupid" -- it took me perhaps 3 hours to assemble and I love having it at hand for my evening EPP stitching.

So, if I can get one thing finished quickly, surely I can get two finished (if I pick the right one and drop everything)?!? A quick review of the possibilities pointed me to the Forever Friends scrappy quilt top I layered up with backing and a flannel blanket two weeks ago that was still on the table in the living room.  Just needed pin basting and it was ready to go.  

And I could have made it . . . . . but the simple machine quilting plan morphed into a spasm of pimping-it-up with big stitch hand quilting.  Can you (barely) see the big stitch and a "tie" in the middle of the "cross"?  So I'm close and will adjust by going for three finishes in July??

I did have a knitting finish in July -- this is the Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda, an English designer.  Great pattern because you can use any yarn, any needle size, and there is no swatching needed!!  I don't think I'll do another one with fingering yarn but the plan is that I'll use up some of my yarn backlog and make a few more.  Two strands of fingering would work nicely!!

I've made progress on my hexie projects though I didn't finish the EPP one as hoped -- maybe this month??  This is one of the four sections needed to finish Part 9 (of 11).  The other three are in various stages -- zoom, zoom!!

So while I may not have mom's energy and strength, I do have her drive and determination!

I hope everyone here in the US has a peaceful and refreshing holiday weekend.  You need a break from the bad news so ignore the news for the next three days -- it will still be there on Tuesday, so go "rouge" (after you read this post) and shut off the devices!!

Mary