I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions. I figure if January was the only time I turned over a new leaf, I’d be in trouble. I like to think about things in a new way all the time, which gives to a very big habit of blog strolling to see what other new things are out there. Or like my daughter said to me today, “Now that you’re still convalescing from your surgery, it’s time to do Pinterest!” I think that might be a hole I’d never climb out of as it would be way too alluring.
But January is my birthday month (as an adult, as a mother, you are allowed a whole month) so I would like to Make Some Plans. Not resolutions. For if these plans don’t come to fruition, my pride won’t be wounded. Like those stand-by passengers on airplanes today, any unfinished plans will just be carried forward to the next List of Plans.
Some Quilting Plans for 2012
1. Make some Cross-X Blocks. I want to do wordy fabrics in the backgrounds somewhere, in order to take advantage of my stash of wordy fabrics. (Photo from janejellyby.)
2. Basket Blocks. I collected, in my earlier days, an entire group of food fabrics. (That’s the first batch of selvages I cut off and sent to Cindy of Live a Colorful Life.) My goal has always been to make a quilt of basket blocks with these fabrics. (Photo from Gray Cat Quilts.)
3. Get back to work on my Lollypop Tree blocks. I started them last year, and should have followed the advice I saw on several blogs, which was to lay out all the fabrics for each block all at once. Then I could be sewing them all year long.
4. Get the borders on this harvest/autumn quilt before autumn comes again. I need need need to get that stack of fabrics tucked back up on the shelves and I won’t as long as the border isn’t on this one. Like most things quilty, I am over-thinking these borders, but I don’t feel like a plain 4″ all around would suit this quilt.
5. Play around with the QR code quilt idea. Don’t know if it will pan out into anything, but I just like thinking about it.
5. Spend the Fat Quarter Shop Gift Certificate my son and his wife gave me for Christmas. I have this in mind, although any colorway will do:
6. Leave time to quilt and listen to audio books in between work (grading & teaching), church service, spending time with friends and family. I read a piece by Pico Iyer today in the New York Times and he talked about the necessity for quiet space, free from distractions, away from the constant flow of noise and information. I think many of us struggle with the demands of the things I’ve listed above, plus trying to be a thoughtful and interesting blogger as well as a good member of the blogging community, in responding to our favorite blogs.
It sometimes can be too much, can’t it? When this happens, I try to get around to comment on those bloggers who I have a special connection to, whose ideas have really sparked me to be a better quilter. I also try to include a few new ones occasionally in order to keep my ideas fresh, and to sample what’s out there. I can’t comment on everyone’s blog, although at times I have left the quilting behind in order to attend to the rigors of commenting. Not a good trade-off, as the comments get more and more brief and tend to be “drive-by” blurbs that don’t really show my appreciation for what I’m reading, and for the creativity I do want to notice, and to allow me to create my own online community with those who interact with what I’m doing.
It’s a balance, and Iyer quotes Marshall McLuhan: “When things come at you very fast, naturally you lose touch with yourself.” Here’s hoping this new year allows us all to enjoy the fruits of our labors, allowing us to fully reconnect with who we are in the process of quilting.
Happy New Year!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
Spot on. Happy birthday month! It’s mine too, can we share?! Your goals look like great ones, the food fabric basket blocks should definitely be interesting and I look forward to seeing how all this turns out. It is tricky to stay true to yourself and your creativity while at the same time keeping up with our little quilty blogging community. I struggle with that, too. Let’s do a New Year’s toast to keeping the balance this year. Cheers!
How nice to get your birthday over with first thing in the year and not have it pending. Japan is really hung up on this “aging society” and keeps rubbing it in as to the burden we are causing.
You have so many nice projects to chose. my +andx blocks are now up to 145 and have hardly put a dent in my scraps. I have decided to keep going and make a larger quilt.
Best wishes for the coming year and the quilting ahead!
Happy Birthday! A birthday month sounds fun to me, by the way. I hope you find a nice balance and enjoy whatever you are engaged in for the moment. I love it when you comment on my blog but don’t worry when you don’t have time. (By the way, if you were to add an email to your blogger profile as then I would be able to easily reply to your comments when you have a chance to make them.) Happy New Year too!
Oh happy birthday! I truly loved this post–it made me think about so many things. I also enjoyed reading the Times article you referred to in your post. I caught up with many of your recent posts and truly enjoyed reading them!
A very thoughtful post. I like this idea of growing into a birthday month. =) I wish you the best in pursuing these projects during your month. Oh, and I hear you on commenting. I know it is an important part of blogging, but it’s so vital to balance reading/commenting with actual creating!
Yes, definitely celebrate for the entire month! Meeting you in person will be a present for ME! This was very thoughtful and reflective–I enjoyed reading it a lot! It’s probably no coincidence that we have two of the same quilts on our quilt bucket list–the Cross-X and baskets. 🙂