Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Resolutions and Aspirations

I'm old enough to know that making New Year's Resolutions is not always helpful, can be downright hurtful. You know, you resolve to do or don't do a long list of things. You write down your list, then at the end of the year (or in September or July or April) you check over your list to see how well -- or poorly -- you are doing. If you aren't doing or not doing what you resolved, then you feel like a failure when actually your Resolutions might have been a little unreasonable, maybe even unattainable.
So I'm only making a few Resolutions & a longer list of Aspirations.

1. I resolve to get healthy; I aspire to loose weight.
The years my Mom was in nursing care took their toll on me: I was away from home 2 to 3 months of each of those years; when I wasn't with her, I was trying to catch at work & at home; I self-medicated with over eating, drinking & shopping. So, I want to try to put myself at the top of my to-do list: exercise, eat healthfully, meditate, nap, laugh, read. If I lose a few pounds in the process, all the better!

2. I resolve to sew my stash & scraps; I aspire to buy less fabric.
During my puttering days last year, I was poking into the corners of my sewing room & discovered fabric & more fabric that I had forgotten I had; beautiful fabric, fabric I loved, or once loved, that deserved to be made into something. So fewer e-carts, fewer trips to quilt shops -- not none at all, mind you, just fewer.

3. I resolve to make at least 3 -- maybe 4 -- quilts using the shirts of my parents; I aspire to make many, many more quilts.
I want to make quilts for my brother & 2 nieces -- & maybe for myself -- with Mom & Dad's shirts. I think I've come up with a plan to make them all at once, they'll be similar but not alike & I'm really eager to get started on them! I always keep a long & growing list of quilts I would like to make: more HSTs, coin-stack strippy-s, maple leaves, text-y/letters, houndstooth, sailboats, bow ties, 16-patch, etc, etc, etc.

4. I aspire to make 2014 my Year of the Pompom!
I read the most charming quote by Maira Kalman:

I think it's nice to say the word "pompom" as often as you can.

At about the same time, one of my favorite quilters, Rachaeldaisy, was showing us a few of her pompom quilts. So Besides saying "pompom" (which *is* very nice!), I want to make add pompoms to my quilts, ala Rachaeldaisy!

9 comments:

O'Quilts said...

Pompoms...ha...I never thought of that...lead the way girl...and I will follow. I made 6 quilts with my father's shirts when he died..I made all the fabric into four patches, once that was done, it was so much easier to be creative with other fabric added, so things would not be so somber....I cannot wait to see what you do. And I love Rachel's work as well. She makes me happy.

Karamat said...

Looks like some good plans for the new year!

MariQuilts said...

Happy New Year.....and I wish you all the best with your list.

Quiltdivajulie said...

I understand the putting yourself back into a healthy frame of mind thinking - being a caregiver takes SUCH a toll on every part of us. Be well and enjoy the process!

fiberchick said...

Happy New Year! I may adopt most of your resolutions...

Nifty Quilts said...

Sounds like a good year ahead! Wishing you lots of pom poms.

Claudia said...

Happy New Year, Beth. I look forward to all of the wonderful quilts you will be making from your stash this year! I'm hoping 2014 will be the year of finishes for me. I have a stack of WIPs to be quilted.

Rachaeldaisy said...

What a great list and great goals for 2014!! And what an absolute honour to see my name there as an influence.

amy and the bad cats said...

happy new year. i think you're wise to make goals and aspirations. i know i get a bit obsessive with my lists of goals, so perhaps next year i'll adopt your method!