A Year For Change

Hello everyone, welcome to 2025!

I have big news...the Useful Remnants blog will be on pause for a while, starting now. We have several major home projects lined up that will temporarily take me away from quilting. In fact, the sewing room will be all packed up (I'm sure I'll be having withdrawal symptoms).

It's really quite exciting with many busy days and positive changes ahead for us. Sometimes you need to prioritize and focus on what's most important. I'll check in periodically once things settle down or if I get a chance to stitch up a little project.

Meanwhile, y'all keep quilting and if you need ideas, browse through the blog.  I've been writing since January 2011, that's 719 posts and 413 quilting projects. 

Cheers to a happy year ahead!

Cabin Fever

I haven't made a log cabin quilt in a while, and I was ready for a quick project with straight seams. Cabin Fever features navy, cream and watermelon prints from my scrap boxes, cut into 1 ½” strips.

The six large 14” blocks are framed with 2 ½” sashing, then I added a 3 ½” navy paisley border. Starting in the center of each block, I quilted down the center of the strip with a straight stitch, turning at each corner. For the sashing and borders, I used a small serpentine stitch in the same thread.  It's 42" x 57" lap quilt size.  

Cabin Fever

I really don't have cabin fever yet, but it seemed like a perfect name since I am staying at home. I've only been out twice (grocery, oh goody) in five weeks. 

We should be at the campground right now, but I am enjoying nature by taking walks around our property and reading on the porch on warm days.  

I thought I'd be cleaning out closets, washing windows, and doing other spring cleaning chores from my list.  I'll get to it...maybe next week...right now I'm happy to be in I-SEW-lation.

Dies used:

Accuquilt

55032 3 ½” strip

55017 2 ½” strip

Blue Wren

1 ½” strip 6015

Sweet Canoes

Sweet Canoes

What a darling little quilt to decorate a girl's room!

Four crossed canoe blocks of cream, white, lilac and sea green are bordered with a floral print. Cutting was simple with yet another Accuquilt die. I use them nearly all the time now.  

Backing is a herringbone print in white and sea green. I quilted with white thread in a straight stitch, horizontally and vertically in a square/rectangle design. It measures at 22" square and right now it serves as a mat on my sewing table.

I used up some remnants with this one, but don't worry, I caught a fabric sale last week and ordered more.

Unfinished Tasks

I am taking today off. 

I need a day to reboot, to tackle some of my unfinished tasks around the house and in the sewing room.

Though I'm usually fairly organized, I have gotten off track and it makes me feel unsettled. I can't think straight until I get a few things completed.

Distracted

Lately I've been a little scattered. Instead of focusing on my to do list, I find myself veering off course. I'll start a project that morphs into something completely different. I'm getting things done, only not what I had planned.

Could be I need to try harder to stay on track. Or maybe I just need to let go and follow where distraction leads me.

“I hate when people ask me what I'm doing tomorrow. I don't even know what I'm doing right now.” - Unknown

“You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one.” – Tom Kite

FOCUS

:a point of convergence 

 

:a state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding 

 

:a center of activity, attraction, or attention

Occasionally it's hard to focus.  Distractions keep you from the things you want in life. Stress, confusion, and negative people make you lose concentration and momentum.

Staying focused on where you want to go helps you stay on track. Take a moment every now and then to reflect on what's important and where you want to focus your attention. You'll gain perspective, peace, and energy to move forward.

Focus on the things you can change and let go of the things you can't. 
 
When life gets blurry, adjust your focus.

Today I Will

Simply Easier

My focus on back to basics is well under way. It's refreshing to look at my home with a new perspective. While I go about my normal routines, I take a few extra minutes to find ways to simplify. If possible, I make changes immediately. More extensive ideas are put on my list to implement later.

This shelf was stored in my hall closet for a couple of years. I love it but didn't have a good place for it. Now it hangs above the dryer in my laundry room, holding blue Ball jars filled with laundry products. It's pretty, it's handy, and I don't have ugly plastic jugs on the dryer. Those are now hidden in the cabinets over the sink. Clear space for folding clothes, and it only took about ten minutes!

Speaking of clothes and shoes, I've been purging them as well. Two large bags are already gone and I have three more ready to haul to Goodwill. Fewer clothes means less closet clutter and time saved figuring out what to wear. And I don't need so many dresses or high heels any more.

The emphasis is currently on our bedroom since new carpet is on the horizon. We'll have to move everything; a real incentive to pare down what comes back into the room.

The process of streamlining is satisfying, so I'm in no particular hurry. Looking for ways to reduce clutter, finding hidden treasures, organizing and decorating are fun for me. Making life easier along the way is an added benefit.

Useful Notion

  

“Simplicity is making the journey of this life 

with just baggage enough.”

~ Charles Warner

Callie Cat watching the goings on in my sewing room
during the fabric sort last week

Simplify!

That's my theme for January. 

Sim-pli-fy:  
to make easier to do or understand
   a: to reduce to basic essentials

   b: to streamline

   c: to clarify

There are a lot of areas to work on, and I've already started. Home, shopping, food, clothing, hobbies, habits and goals are all under review. I'm hoping that simplifying life will lead to harmony, joy, peacefulness, fun, and a beautiful 2014.

Useful Notion: There is beauty in simplicity. 

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. --Confucius

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify. --Henry David Thoreau

** BRRRR!  it's COLD here on the ridge this morning!  Three degrees at 6 am.