decluttering the grocery shopping, 2010 - sorting out priorities

A few weeks ago I declared my decluttered crafting intentions for 2010. In the spirit of setting realistic goals and paring down my personal expectations, I have also been thinking about choosing just one area of my family's living to focus on moving in a better direction. I figure that if the inhabitants of chez clutterpunk work on living more simply, ethically and sustainably in one area, we might actually make some progress.

I've decided on aiming to declutter the grocery shopping. Because shopping and eating involve all of us, happen regularly, take up lots of time and energy, and bring together a whole clash of issues. What's more, my family needs to tighten our collective belt somewhat as the Beloved leaves full-time work to pursue further study (sigh).

This idea was planted after reading Angie's posts about working on reduction of food waste with her family, in which she included the following startling facts:

• 
  
  food production now accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse emissions and requires almost three-quarters of the world's fresh water supply 
• 
  
  today three quarters of the world food sales are processed items (adding to the resource used) 
• 
  
  half a person's eco-footprint is food related

But I wasn't quite sure where to start, and it was only after reading Meagan's recent grocery musings that I started to sort through my priorities.

See, for my family, there are a number of (sometimes competing) priorities when it comes to grocery shopping (as you can see on the scary-looking flow chart up there in the picture! Yes, I'm a flow-chart nerd). Below are the six areas I've identified as ones that impact on my family's food-buying habits. I've listed the priorities that we'd ideally like to work with under each category.

Health - make a variety of simple and nutritious family meals for everyone to eat (including the fussy toddler), avoid overly-processed foods

Family - establish a predictable mealtime ritual, enjoy meals together, get more organised in order to spend less time cooking and shopping and more time with each other

Ethics - buy fairtrade coffee and chocolate, free-range poultry and eggs, and boycott brands and chains who are ethically irresponsible (eg Nestle), avoid the dominant supermarkets

Sustainability - buy local, buy seasonal, avoid excess packaging, eat less meat, avoid FOOD WASTE

Finances - plan for shops, buy some things in bulk, avoid luxury items, avoid unplanned take-away food

Community - get to know my local butcher and green grocer and support their businesses, share meals with neighbours and friends without needing to be a gourmet

Currently, I'm in the process of working out how these things fit together and deciding which ones should weigh in more. I've come to realise that there are a few actions I/we can take that can help to achieve lots of the positive goals. But I also realise that some goals are going to be compromised by others. I'll share more of these thoughts at a later stage.

I'd be really fascinated to know what your priorities are when it comes to grocery shopping and how you sort it out. Is it all about health, or frugality, or perhaps sustainability? Is it a mixture? Do you have any bright ideas?

My creative space... mending and mulling

It's been a very creatively-satisfying week at chez clutterpunk, and yet really all I have to show for it is this:

Due to my current solo-parenting situation (and the small matter of an editing deadline next Monday), I decided to put aside aside both the machine and hand quilting, and do some mending. And while mending, I've been staring at this bit of linen, which belongs to a blank tea towel... one of 15 I've picked up from Sooz, washed, and i-r-o-n-e-d (man I find that stuff hard to iron!) in the last few days. And now I'm awaiting a flash of inspiration so that I can get going on my tea towel swap contribution. I'd love to say that the possibilities are endless, but actually, they are quite finite from where I stand. Hmmm. The mulling continues...

But dang, has the mending been satisfying! I've taken up a pair of woolen suit trousers for a male friend, fixed a bunch of rips and broken straps for my sister, and managed to make my favourite (and sadly torn) night dress less avert your eyes! and more appropriate for emergency midnight door answering (although I'm sure the Beloved will be a bit disappointed when he returns... )

Sorry to bang on about the mending, but I'm still getting over the fact that I have a USEFUL SKILL. And one that I like exercising. And one that friends and family actually seek me out to exercise! I'm not someone who grew up darning socks with my grandma or making dolly clothes with my mother. We just weren't that kind of family. It's ALL new to me, and as much as I love the creative and artistic aspects of sewing, I am as thrilled at the functionality of it all. The recent hand quilting workshop I took part in reminded me of the pleasure that can come from stitching slowly and enjoying the process, so I think that's refreshed my enthusiasm for mundane sewing.

Meanwhile, back in reality, it's time to start the nightly bath-dinner-bed-bed-back-to-bed-STAY_IN_BED-proofreading routine! And I hope after that there is still time to visit today's creative spaces. It's always a highlight.

While the man of the house is away...

The Beloved, who this year is entering the Land of Full Time PhD Study (let us never speak of it again!), has abandoned* us for almost two weeks. In order to stay sane, I have bribed my good friend, upstairs-neighbour and refashion-recipient Sonia to do a little babysitting. I'll be paying her back handsomely, but I sweetened the deal by making this little obi-belty-cummerbundy thingamy... before I asked her to drop down at 7am so I could get out for a run!

This all fits in with my playing-around in order to find a good gift to make for friends this year. I'll do a few different things next time - perhaps leave out the padding, widen it a little for those of us with slightly more generous waistlines, and play around with the gathers. But mostly, I'm happy, and so is she. Apart from the babysitting bit.

*gone far away to locum and earn some money in order to support our family. That's the definition of abandonment, isn't it?!

Japanese kaleidoscope quilting... the slow burn.

The class was wonderful.

This is what I completed on the day...

One square of Japanese kaleidoscope patchwork quilt. It is a finished unit in itself, but may be incorporated into a quilt/runner/hanging of any size you choose. When pieced together, the units form wonderful sashiko circles:

My sashiko stitches, supposed to resemble floating grains of rice, are quite askance - not nearly so beautifully-even as Lara's effort early last year - but the eveness in spacing and line will come with practise.

This square is a product of a number of processes, all achieved by hand: the creation of a hemmed circle of fabric; the sashiko stitching which both bastes and decorates the circumference; the enfolding of a square of fabric and batting evenly within the circle.

Our talented teacher, textile artist and quilter Jan Preston, led us quite slowly and gently through each process. I suspect she was trying to instill in us a sense of the mindfulness and calm that such a method requires (and, hopefully, nurtures).

And this is precisely why I chose to take this particular quilting class.

So I'm putting it out there. I am going to embrace this quilting method and make a wall hanging. I can already think of lots of possibilities for using this method in different ways and for different projects, but first I'm going to be disciplined, and go slow, and learn to breath and concentrate and be patient.

 Don't expect to see a finished product until late in the year. (I'm writing that for ME more than you!) Other instant-gratification projects will come and go... but kaleidoscope-quilt is here for the long term.

Almost wetting pants with excitement...

...beacause I'm about to head into the city for the day, sans kids and husband, for a Japanese patchwork hand-quilting course at Kimono House.

Can't say more now, must go catch the train. After grabbing that spare pair of underpants.

Let the quilting madness begin!

My creative space...

I'm so glad Kirsty's got the creative spaces back up and running for the year... now I will have more impetus to both create and blog! It is quite clear to me now just how much participating in this meme last year kept up my enthusiasm for both.

Today I'm up to my ears in shades of green...

Ugh, I feel a little ill looking at it all. These bits of fabric are supposed to be coming together in a slightly-haphazard-but-mostly-symmetrical 12 block quilt top for my sister. Siffice to say she likes green. We picked out the fabrics for her last year and tried to figure out together what she would like.

 Naturally, I launched in late last year without really planning, as I tend to work better as I go. Problem is, I now don't really know what I'm up to, and I've spent the morning so far ironing these kind-of-log-cabin squares and attempting to calculate sashing requirements. Not that we really agreed on a size, either!

I think I've learned from this that, in quilting, I really DO need to visualise a little more clearly where I'm going prior to cutting and sewing. It is a little harder though when I'm trying to visualise on behalf of someone else, and I don't really have full ownership of the project...

Meanwhile, I'm trying to save my eyeballs from green-overload, and shock myself into cleaning the bathroom, by wearing my favourite apron, this whacky bright smock number (and hiding unwashed hair under old t-shirt, classy!). I'm showing you because I want to make something similar for a friend, but I need to ask whether making an apron for someone to clean the house in would be considered demeaning?!

Anyway, after I've tackled the soap scum I'm going to come back and check out what YOU'VE been up to. Join in here.

Learning to receive.

When I came back from holidays last week I found the most embarassingly large package awaiting me.

I had found out before Christmas that I won Lyn's giveaway over at From One Mum. So I was anticipating the arrival of this book...

... but not the arrival of:

a stack of vintage trims and buttons

a copy of Mixtape

an amazing array of vintage and new fabric squares and scraps

TWO moda charm packs

some fabulous and hilarious vintage craft magazines

Lyn, my girl, that was a massive haul! It only strengthens my resolve to craft from my healthy stash this year and make some great stuff with what I have. I've been getting particularly excited about making a scrap quilt with all the mismatched patterns, colours and styles of scrap-sized material I have, and Liz' contribution will feature strongly there. (I think the challenge of a scrap quilt is to somehow harmonize all those disparate elements... I think it's cheating when someone's "scraps" are from the same coordinated line of designer fabrics!!)

I don't know how you feel when you are the recipient of someone else's generosity, but I actually find it hard! I find giving without expectation of repayment sits easily with me (It is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts 20:35). But when I receive stuff, I start feeling indebted, and assume I'm meant to repay in kind or I'll be letting people down.

My lovely and perceptive craft-blog-friend Sally chastised me about this when I made noises about 'making something in return' after receiving her amazing package of goodies a few months back. Of course, sometimes we DO give in order to get back, but sometimes gifts are just that - a gift. Not swaps or barters, not ways of 'buying' my loyalty or seeking my custom. Sally asked me to take her package graciously and treat it as an exercise in receiving.

Well thanks to Lyn I now have another opportunity to practise the act of receiving graciously. Ouch, it hurts! But thank you so, so much.