My Goals for July and What Stitching to Take With Me

This is a bit of a tricky post to write, as we will be on the road for the next three months.  As a result, it is a bit hard to set goals.  However, I think it is still a good idea to have something to aim for.

STITCHING GOALS

I have been pondering as to what stitching to take with me.  Do I take my baby Elna Stella with me, or do I leave her at home and just work on hand stitching?  What hand stitching do I take? Will I realistically get any stitching done? What if I do want to do stitching in that time and run out?  Decisions, decisions.

In the end I have been busy prepping a couple of things and found a few more that I can fit in.  They are now all packed in the van, ready to go. I know that a lot will come home in the same state that it is in now, but that is OK.

I think the best thing is to show what I am taking with me, for my record as much as anything.

Yes, I decided to take my little machine.  I prefer to work on the machine more than by hand, so she is coming with me. I can even use her if we are off grid, as Mick has a solar panel on the roof of the ute, which is hooked up to a lithium battery and he has a small inverter linked to that, so there is some 240v power to keep the Engel fridge going and to charge some rechargeable batteries.  My machine only draws 50w, so the inverter will easily provide enough power for her to run, and yes, we have tested it out.  Therefore, as I have the means, I have this silly idea that I want to do some machine stitching in the middle of nowhere.  We'll see what eventuates.  Obviously, I won't be able to press anything with the iron unless we are plugged into mains 240V.

I was just going to use the fabric cover from Mum's machine to protect her while travelling, as she will be stored under the bed.  However, today we bought an new doona cover for the van and it came in a little bag.  I thought it looked about the same size as Stella.  Perfect.  Made to measure.

I have commandeered the storage compartment under my seat at the little dining table for my craft supplies.  A wire basket lives in there and slides out on drawer runners.  I was very pleased that one of my storage tubs fits across it perfectly.

So, without further ado, what am I taking?

Firstly, the makings to put the churn dash quilt top together.  I'll just have to use the bed as my design space to work out placement of the blocks.

I have now, finally, fused down all the applique blocks of the Blue Quilt and have them ready to do the little bits of simple embroidery.  They have not had the blanket stitch done, but I will be gentle with them.

I also have all the pieces for the first two EPP borders rough cut, ready to prep for stitching together.

Next, I have the black, white and bright coloured Half Square Triangle quilt in its tub.  I have been working on these blocks a leaders and enders.  Quite a few need cutting in half, pressing and trimming, before they can be stitched together.  I'm not sure how far I can get on this one, but I will make a bit of a start.

I have also popped in another pile of HST that I made as leaders and enders at Scrub Stitchin'.  They are ready to be made into a baby quilt top.  Once again, the bed will be my design space, as I decide what way to lay them out.

I have a few random hand stitching projects that have been kicking around for a while, so I popped them in too - just because I could.  I don't want to run out of things to work on.......as if.

Oh, and just in case I get all that done, I popped in my remaining two Swoon blocks that have been prepped for a while....... and a couple of crochet hooks.

So, I have quite a variety of projects to keep me amused, if I have the time and feel inclined.

Of course, all the relevant rulers, mats, cutters, and assorted sundry  tools have to come along, all in little pouches to keep some sort of order.

And just about everything fits nicely in my basket, which I just lined with a small towel. A cutting mat will sit on top.

The only things that don't fit are my long ruler, which fits nicely under the bed and a couple of mini design boards, which coincidentally fit perfectly in the base of one of our little storage tubs under the bed.

Back to my goals.....

ONE MONTHLY GOAL

This is such a hard one....... even since I started typing this I have changed my mind, as I really don't know how much time I will have for stitching.

I was going to aim to have eight hexy flowers made, but to be more realistic, my goal will be to do the stitchery on six of the applique blocks.  That will be half of them. More would be nice, but we will see how we go.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The colour this month was purple and I have already made my blocks.  I needed to do that before we went away.  I will just be dragging the chain for the next couple of months and have to catch up once we return home.

ONE PROJECT A MONTH

I can't see this happening, unless I get energetic this week and make something simple.

Hopefully, I will get to work on some of the other projects  I have packed as well, but will not commit to anything.

NON STITCHING GOALS

READ A BOOK

I'm sure this will happen.  I tend to read more when we are travelling.  We will also listen to some audio books while driving along.

TRY A NEW RECIPE

Who knows?  I have a fully functioning kitchen in the van and we have to eat.  Also, I am taking the basic ingredients for baking with us, so there may be something new.  I do hope so.

KEEP MY BLOG UP TO DATE

I will be trying very hard to keep my blog up to date, as we will be doing so much travelling and seeing so many things that this will be the only way I'll be able to remember everything.

The only thing that will affect this is internet access in some places.  I will do the best I can.

This is my new blogging set up.  I previously used Mick's laptop when travelling, but now that my photos are on my phone it has been a pain getting them across.  Also, my old iPad was too old for any updates to be able to be loaded - built in obsolescence.

I've been using the new iPad for blogging for a few weeks now and it has worked well.  I'm so pleased I indulged in the keyboard case.

So, that are the plans for the month.  We will have covered quite a bit of ground by the time August comes around and it will be interesting to check on how my goals went.