A Quilt and My 21 for 2021 List

It’s just a quilt.

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It’s just straight cuts and straight stitches done on a machine that does most of the work. It came from a pattern that laid out the details and did the math and all I had to do was follow along. If you come close you’ll notice all the mistakes. The jerky stitch lines, the corners that don’t line up (most of them), the fabric turned inside out, the edging misaligned. And for goodness sake, it took me an entire year to finally finish, which seems like quite a long time to devote to a product that has already had wine and pizza and marker stains on its precious cover.

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But it’s not just a quilt to me.

It’s my grandmother’s fabric and her handed down sewing machine that pieced it together.

It’s my children asking me “how’s it going, mama?” while I work and “can I snuggle under there with you?” when completed.

It’s writing down the goal on January 1 and then holding up the completed project on December 31 and the satisfaction that comes from a realized dream.

It’s hearing “wow, that looks pretty complicated for your first big quilt” and then doing it anyway.

It’s the houses that remind me of our neighborhood that became our whole world this year.

It’s joining a legacy of women before me—my grandmother, my mother, my friends—who offered an example of handcrafted art, which really is just another kind of love.

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Yesterday as I sat on the couch under the comfort of the quilt, I heard the words from another young artist, Amanda Gorman, proclaiming words she pieced together herself from dreams and love.

If nothing else say this is true

That even as we grieved we grew

That even as we hurt we hoped

That even as we tired we tried

That we’ll forever be tied together victorious

Not because we will never again know defeat

but because we will never again sow division.

So yes, maybe it’s just a quilt, but it’s also a reminder of growing and hoping and trying and forever being tied together in the big dreams we move towards in this country and the small dreams we write down on paper.

Seeing as today feels like a brand new day in a brand new year, I thought this would be a good time to share my dreams. I suppose you would love to know how last year’s 20 for 2020 went. I like to share more of my year in review accomplishments around my birthday in April. So you’ll have to wait for the final score. But let me just say the fact that I am willing to do another list as we go into another year of unknowns must tell you it went pretty well. 

So hear you are, my 21 for 2021. A list of things to work on, block by block, in this hopeful new year.


My 21 for 2021

Vocation

1.Complete a writing class

2. Maintain regular sharing of others work

3. Read more during the day, not just before bed

4. Write longform at least three times a week

Family

5. Add game nights to family rituals

6. Plan trips for family, couples, friends, and solo

7. Have once a month intentional date nights in

8. Start one line a day journal

Home

9. Add more real indoor plants, and take care of them

10. Print more photos for house

11. Organize cookbooks and recipes

12. Organize and purge their art

13. Complete a Big House Project - Bathroom?

Wellness

14. Run a marathon

15. Explore a meditation practice for 30 days

16. Research menstruation cycles and creativity connection

17. Get a full physical with blood tests

Personal

18. Follow a regular capsule wardrobe

19. Learn one song on the piano

20. Fix camera and pull out camera at least once a month

21. Make a quilt for each kid

Rachel NevergallComment