2009

Someone on my quilt list posted her goals for 2009. I think we all need something to aspire to and lists help to keep me on track. I'm not going to call these New Year's resolutions because they are tasks that can be accomplished and when they are they can be crossed off the list. So here they are.

Goals for 2009

• Sell my New Jersey house. I know this is not entirely under my control but my goal is to do everything under my control to make this happen. I fooled around in 2008 and didn't get it done. That will change in 2009.


• Complete a minimum of eight (8) UFOs. A UFO is any project that was begun prior to January 1 and was not completed. I must, in all honesty, tell you that completing 8 is a drop in the bucket and that number is really arbitrary. However, I tried to choose a number that is significant but attainable.


• Make at least 2 garments. There was a time when I made almost everything I wore. That was many years ago before my many interests and my income grew. There was a time when I would look at an item in the department store and tell myself that I could make that. As I had more money and less time the question changed from whether I could make it to whether I would. Then came catalogs making the shopping even easier. Well, I'm going back to creating my own garments and this is the start.
  
  
  
• Weave at least 2 projects. I'm not going to define the projects since I have a few ideas of things I'd like to do. I've been so hung up on other things I've neglected weaving but I need to get back to it.
  
  
• Knit a pair of socks. I've wanted to do this for a long time and I've recently been reading about the magic loop method of knitting 2 socks at the same time on circular needles. I've also just discovered sock blanks that allow you to custom dye your yarn and then knit a pair of socks that are identical in color patterning. This will be my year to give it a try.
  
  
• Design and complete a Barack Obama quilt. I spent the first five years of my life in St. Louis, MO. On my fourth birthday we had a party and the second part was to take everyone to the movies. At some point during the party, my mother and our next-door neighbor (who was white) realized that the party would have to split up for the movies since the white kids and the black kids couldn't go to the same theater. Although I grew up in New York City (Queens) and have spent my adult years in New Jersey, the northeast didn't eliminate incidents of discrimination from my life. I say all this to let you know that if anyone had asked me if I would see an African-American president in my lifetime I would have said "no" without hesitation. I feel I must commemorate this election and, of course, my thoughts turn to fabric. So I'm working on a design and my goal is to complete this quilt during the first year of his term.

So, that's it - my goals for 2009. I'll be posting my progress on these goals and we'll do an assessment at the end of the year. Wish me luck. END OF POST