As child, I used to summer at my grandmother’s house in Fresno, California, and this year’s state fair project is a celebration of those summers when my life intersected with hers.

My grandmother’s house was her domain, and while I was not made to feel unwelcome in anyway, I was definitely encouraged to play outside for extended periods of time so that she could get her work done, and one of my favorite places to pass the time was in the sycamore trees along the western edge of the front yard.

The trees were easy to climb, provided ample shade, and allowed me (the youngest member of both my father’s and mother’s immediate family for many years) to see the world from a different vantage point — one that did not include so many knees and elbows and did not require me to stand on tip toe in a fruitless effort to see what was going on.

This past weekend I was determined to finish the third panel of this year’s state fair project and continued my effort to make as many squares as I possibly could to both complete the panel and create little bit of a cushion between me and my state fair deadline.

I got off to a running start this past Thursday, turning out 54 squares for one day’s efforts, and by one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, I had finished the remaining 117 squares that comprised the third panel of my 2014 North Carolina State Fair project:

When I wake up tomorrow, there will be just 43 days left until this project must be turned in, and until then I will have to keep my crochet blinders on and continue this journey, one stitch at a time.