A Goal

It's the new year and it's time for goals. I'm bucking the norm a bit because I've decided I'm going to say goals, as opposed to resolutions. Resolutions is such a great word, but at this time of year, it's most often associated with images of failure, misery, no sweets....you get the idea. I think the word goals, however, carries with it the sense of a challenge, something a bit out of reach but attainable with hard work and a bit of adventure.

That's the spirit with which I'm setting one of my new year's goals: I'm challenging myself to create a journal quilt each week. Each quilt will be 6" x 6". I don't think I've ever made anything square before, so I'm curious about how I'll handle this. I'm still a bit nebulous on when my week will start and end, but I'll try to be honorable about it. I also plan to try some new techniques and/or products through my journals. Hopefully I'll discover something in my work that merits more exploration in another, perhaps larger, piece. Unlike my self-imposed limit on sweets, I'm looking forward to this journaling goal.

So here's my first journal quilt of the year. It's based on the rhodedendron next to my kitchen window. It was so cold here yesterday (10 degrees in the morning), yet there it was, a deep green in the midst of the chill. It was a very compelling picture in my mind's eye. I thought the brave plant, already with buds on it in preparation for spring, deserved a small tribute. This is raw-edge applique, with free-motion quilting in the background in metallic thread.