A 54 square day

As Labor Day approaches, I am, of necessity, forced to crunch numbers and contemplate whether my plans and goals for my state fair project are within (albeit barely) the realm of reality, and that that is exactly what I found myself doing late yesterday afternoon so I was relived when I managed to make the day a 54 square day.

I had finished making all of the brown squares needed for the chicken coop/pomegranate tree panel:

granny square picture panel
The second panel with all of the crochet squares completed after a 54 square day

and I was wondering if I was on track to finish the project in its entirety by 3:00 pm October 13 deadline.

After doing all of the math twice, it turned out that I was on track — but just barely.

I have been designing this project as I go (I am happy with the results so far, but am not enamored of the process), I decided that just barely was outside my comfort zone, so today, after I had gotten my son to school, eaten breakfast, and walked the dog, I focused on getting as many squares done for the third panel as I possibly could, and by late afternoon, I had gotten this far I had gotten:

granny square picture panel
I get a start on the third granny square picture panel

and I am hoping that with my calendar for both tomorrow and Saturday clear, I will be able to make similarly substantial progress on those days and get myself a bit of a cushion as I prepare to move forward into September.

Meanwhile, I will use what time I have left between now exhaustion to make as many more squares as I possibly can.