Socks, and Catalogs and Bags, Oh MY!

January is moving along and it will soon be time to consider how those New Year's resolutions are progressing.  Some have been easier than others, as expected.  But today, I gathered my courage and de-cluttered my "widowed sock" basket.  Widowed socks are those without mates.  As they would emerge in the laundry over the years, I would set them aside because often the mate would show up a week or more later.  And, usually the socks were bought in large packs so they could be repaired with similar socks whose mates left them.  Logical and economical, right?  But at some point all frugality can blur into obsession.  Many of these socks have been around for 20 years and I bet I even moved them during the last change of residence.  (I see your smiles, hear your gasps and believe me, I'm practically blushing with embarrassment. But they say that the first step is admitting you have a problem.)  I know that old socks make great rags sometimes and as a youth I made many potholders out of cut up old socks.  But, alas, there are way too many rags and pot holders also in my house.  So, finding an immense amount of will power I managed to throw this all away:

OK, so that's not totally true.  I saved two socks that are still current in the husband's wardrobe.  But, the rest are in the trash.  And, if I'm smart I will put that trash bag at the curb before I change my mind.

But I didn't stop with socks! Stopping clutter is often a matter of slowing the tide of stuff coming into the house to start with.  We get an enormous amount of catalogs in the mail.  We order a lot online and then I'm sure the address is passed around to other companies.  Some catalogs I enjoy but some sell merchandise we would never need. There is a great site called Catalog Choice.  By signing up and following their directions you can tell the company, "No, thanks. Please don't send me anymore." It's free.  You have to have the catalog in front of you because they ask for the exact name it is addressed to and some numbers on the back to help you be accurately removed from the mailing list.  It doesn't always work, but every little bit helps! 

Secondly, I'm on a "no more bags" campaign.  I try to remember to bring those reusable shopping bags with me to every store.  I do reuse the disposable bags to line trash cans and other household chores, but I have plenty for at least a year!  And, of course since I"m not 100% in remembering sometimes I do add to the collection.

And, lastly, in the virtual world, I've unsubscribed from many retail emails that I have no interest in.  Occasionally I will agree to a once a month email from the company, but honestly, some badger on a daily basis.

I'd better go,  There is trash to dump before I come up with a new use for old socks.

New Giveaway to Enter

Rebecca at Our Busy Little Bunch is having a birthday fabric giveaway today.  You can enter here.  Her blog has a new look and the fabric she is giving away match the new color scheme on the blog.  Hop on over and check it out. 

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!
                                                     

Attention Retail Stores: Please Bring Back the Man Chair!

You remember the man chair.  It used to be available in every department store or woman's clothing store .   To quote the Urban Dictionary: 

A man chair is the chair that men sit in while their partner is shopping for long periods of time. They can be found in almost any clothing or shoe store. What can we, as men do while our gf's or wives are shopping, we can sit in a man chair.

 

I shopped longer and bought more in stores with a man chair.  My husband was happier and more comfortable and even glad to visit these stores with me.  One of my favorite little clothing stores once had a comfortable upholstered man chair.  Then one day I visited and it was removed and then latter replaced....but with a metal folding chair; better than nothing but not exactly inviting.

 

Two of my local fabric stores have nice comfortable man chairs and one even stocks magazines near the chairs.  While I often go to such stores alone it's nice to have the option of going with the husband and the chair makes ALL the difference in the world.

 

So, attention retail stores:  Here's one giant vote for a man chair in every store.  It sure helps me spend more time in your store, it helps my husband like your store more and in the end, I buy more.  And isn't that what it's all about?                                                                                                                                       

 

 

Country Threads Block of the Month: January

I've always been attracted to the idea of a block of the month, although I've never participated in one.  In fact, Easy Street was my first group participation of any sort.  My blog travels brought me in touch with Country Threads and they are sponsoring a block of the month sampler.  Each month you make two blocks: one large (12 inches) and one small (6 inches).  Here's my first installment:

Unlike the mystery quilt, you get to see an example of the finished product up front.  They're are several alternative finishes though.

In the meantime I'll enjoy hanging them around my sewing room...I mean studio.

Book Review: Scrap House Quilt

Several weeks ago I was fortunate enough to win a giveaway at Lily's Quilts!  My prize was a copy of the book Scrap House Quilt by Katharine Guerrier.

This is a great book with directions on piecing houses and other "neighborhood" blocks into a delightful quilt.  You could even customize the blocks to tell a particular story.  The e-book is well done and includes links within the book to help with navigation as well as videos highlighting certain techniques.

Definitely worth a look!   Thanks again, Lily!

Easy Street - City Center

I've finished the center of the Easy Street mystery quilt.  As usual there were a lot of lessons learned in this project. This was my first mystery quilt, my first quilt with the blocks placed on point, my first time making flying geese and maybe the most complicated patterning I've attempted.  There are some areas where the seams don't line up nicely and a few geese without beaks.  Some spots were sewn and resewn several times.  After three tries in the same spot I decided to settle for less than perfect. Each time I redid the same area the fabric, especially if a triangle was involved seem to just get more out of shape. 

My plan is to add a narrow gold border and a wider (maybe 3 inches) blue border.  I've tried just a blue border and really thought it needed something else. And between now and when I actually sew the border on I might change my mind yet again.  I was aiming at a quilt for a child so I chose primary colors and cream for the black and white print with gold/yellow for the grey.  One of the hardest decisions was what size to make.  At first I tried a square quilt with four of the main blocks and one alternate in the center.  It would have finished at a crib size once the border was done and I could have done two in this size.  I even planned on some embroidery embellishment.  But when I looked at it again I wasn't happy so I unsewed (I like that word SO much better than "ripped out") and sewed some more until I got what you see.  There are quite a few blocks left over which will probably become another project but not right away.  I'm ready to move on to something different.  Quilting on this will wait until the new table is delivered for my Baby Lock so that I can sew flat. I'm short, so sewing in my present set up usually leaves me with my shoulders sore.

I really enjoyed the whole mystery quilt thing.  It makes you just sit back and enjoy the ride without focusing on the destination.  You can bet that I'll be on the lookout for another mystery quilt experience should one come my way.  You can view other Easy Street finishes here.

A Look at 2012

I think I'm finally catching up after the holidays.  Not quite there yet, but well on my way.  I continued a "tradition" (if two years makes a tradition) that I started last year.  Throughout the year I made a block from the leftover scraps of each of the quilts I made and then put them together into a wall hanging for the wall of my sewing room. (I really need to get into the habit of calling it my sewing studio.  That sounds much grander!)  So, here is the 2012 edition:

Sorry for the bad picture.  I guess that's the "not quite caught up" part of the post holiday season.  Anyway, in addition to a representation of each quilt, a few blocks are reminders of projects, like my tartan tote bag and some pillows and cloth books.  I got to quilt this on my new Baby Lock using a decorative stitch and some embroidery at the bottom.  As usual, I wasn't pleased with the binding application.  I need to just admit that I like the look of a hand finished binding even if I don't like the time it takes to bind it that way.  I've tried several methods of machine sewing the binding and haven't found one that I really like.

I've realized that a summary quilt will get harder as the years go on since some fabrics are used in several quilts or scrappy quilts are made making it more difficult to separate everything out.   But for now, this little project makes a nice post to link with the Small Blog Meet at Lilly's Quilts.