You Say "Self-Indulgent" Like It's a Bad Thing

New Year's resolutions. It seems like everyone makes them, doesn't it? Quitting smoking. Getting more exercise. Eating healthy. Losing weight. Spending less money. Buying less fabric. HUH?! Why would you want to do THAT? Actually, none of these resolutions sound like good ideas to me. I mean sure, I have an ongoing goal to eat healthy, but we all need a nearly unobtainable goal or two, don't we? That's why God gave us stuff like Cheetos! Mostly I'm happy enough doing more of what I've been doing in the past. After all, I've been what I am for a long time now, and the world hasn't ended yet, right?

For me at least, making New Year's resolutions means setting myself up to fail because very few people can stick with a New Year's resolution all year long, myself included. But sure, I think about resolutions. I prefer, though, to set goals. And really, tell me this: Why would I want to set a goal that is difficult, painful, or less than fun to achieve? So here's my "goal" for 2011: "11 in 11."

What does "11 in 11" mean? Well, my plan is to finish 11 quilt projects in 2011. That averages out to one quilt a month with December off. The monthly Le Petite projects don't count, nor do other quick projects like tablerunners, etc. Projects that count toward satisfying my goal have to be projects that are large enough to take a little bit of time. Decreasing the number of unfinished quilt tops I have by getting a few quilted and bound DOES count. So the plan is do-able, I think, but not easy.

On Sunday, I pulled out a quilt top I had pinned but set aside, and I started quilting it. Here's how it looks so far:

I've just finished quilting all of the inside, but I still have the border to quilt and then all the binding to stitch, of course. This quilt is probably lap size, so it's not too huge, but it's not a small project either.

If you've already blown your New Year's resolution and need another to take its place, or if this just sounds like a good goal for you too, please join me! I'm going to revamp my sidebar and make space to keep track of my progress. Hey, it's a heck of a lot more fun than getting on the scale once a week!

(And just wait until you hear about my plans for Lent, when I'm thinking about giving up vegetables! But don't tell Gran and her crazy raw vegan friends, okay?)