I wish I may, I wish I might...

I like maintaining a wishlist on my blog, not only for my own personal use, but because it also makes it easier when I participate in an exchange.  It's nice to be able to see what your partner is interested in, so I like to make that information accessible to them.  When you can see what a fellow stitcher is interested in, choosing something they'll like is a bit easier.

I've used The Things I Want forever, but I don't think their interface has been updated since they rolled it out in 2006, and their development blog has been on hiatus since 2008.  It seems they've stopped working on it, and I don't want to lose my lists, so it's time to transition to something new.

I've experimented with several different "universal" wish lists, and so far, Whimventory seems to be winning.  There's a browser bar add-on that makes it super easy to add items from almost any site (I've had some difficulties with one or two sites, but have been able to find what I am looking for elsewhere so I can add it to the list).  The list is visual, like Pinterest, but includes more gift list functionality than Pinterest.

I also find it useful to keep an online inventory of my stash so I am able to check before I buy a chart to see whether or not I already have it.  I usually visit my LNS with specific charts in mind, or to pick up something I've asked the owner to order for me, but I will occasionally spot something that catches my eye.  If it's not a brand new release, I like to make sure I haven't purchased it before.

Cataloging my stash serves another purpose.  My very careful and meticulous father-in-law devoted some time to creating an inventory of their home and its contents for insurance purposes and encouraged us to do the same.  He took photos of everything, room by room, and gave digital copies to both of his sons.  I've been working on our home inventory as well, and realized it wasn't a bad idea to have a record of our stitching stash.  While it may not be as extensive as some other stitching stashes out there, we've still spent a sizeable amount of money on charts, fibers and fabrics, and having that all documented would be a tremendous help for an insurance claim (heaven forbid we ever need to do that).  So in addition to my online inventories, I also keep an excel spreadsheet with a backup copy in our firebox, mostly because I am tremendously paranoid that one of these websites will go away in the middle of the night, leaving me no record of what I have.  It was a LOT of work putting it together to begin with, but has become very easy to maintain just by adding charts when I buy new ones (which surprisingly isn't all that often)

Where do you keep track of your wishlists?  Do you keep track of what you own online or otherwise?

Fabric Resources

I found this link on Pinterest

30 Great Places to Buy Fabric Online

My gift from the bride

I love it when a gift is given with care and thoughtfulness, and my gift from the bride this past weekend really hit the nail on the head. She and I are close, and we emailed quite a bit about everyone else's gift - she wanted to make sure that she picked something that would be meaningful to each of her bridesmaids, and she did just that. She put together a scrapbook of old photos, letters, ticket stubs, etc., for her maid of honor. For another, she made a lamp filled with shells from their trips to the beach, and for another, she bought a boxed set of a movie adaptation of a favorite childhood book.

For my gift, she tracked down my online wishlist (she never asked for it directly, so she's a pretty smart cookie) and picked several stitching pieces that I really wanted, but never managed to purchase for myself. I love that two of the charts she picked are for ornaments - I am ridiculously sentimental when it comes to Christmas ornaments, and every ornament on our tree has special meaning to us. Now when I stitch these up, they will forever remind me of Kerri and Mark's wedding.

She chose

• Imaginating's Nutcrackers II (Germany, Ireland and France)
• The Sweetheart Tree's Irish Shamrocks Chubby Nutcracker
• Little House Needlework's Snowflakes

She also included a package of bobbins that I use for winding threads, and some Thread Heaven. I was so touched that she'd take the time to track down my list and find items that would have special meaning to me. All she really knows about stitching is that I do it - she's not a stitcher herself.

Of course, now this probably means I should a) put down the computer and do a little stitching, and b) finish up the piece I stitched in honor of my cousin's wedding!

Yay! It's FRIDAY!!!

Boy, am I behind!! I have three Friday's Feasts to catch up on, as well as several SBQs. Not to mention I owe some actual stitching pictures on this, a stitching blog. I just haven't been able to get motivated to get the camera out and take some. I'm in the midst of a love-hate relationship with the camera and photography in general. Our camera seems to have an internal spot on the lens, leaving a dark shadow on our photos. Trouble is, it comes and goes; some pictures have it, others don't. I'm guessing it's probably time to get the camera cleaned, but it's been so far down on the priority list lately that I haven't made time to find out where to take it and actually get it done. Which means that I am spending quite a bit of time (and working up a good eye strain) digitally touching up some of our photos.

Which is another story in and of itself. I try to be very organized with our photos. We have an external drive, and every year, I set up a main folder for the year (2006, 2007, etc.) As we take pictures, I set up numbered subfolders to keep track of date and activity, and number them to keep them in order. Every six months or so, I burn the photos to CD, and once a year, I delete everything that has been burned onto CD from the hard drive. (After I make a second copy, of course) I'm a stickler for photos looking good, which means I do some retouching and fix all the red eye before I burn or upload photos. (My MIL thinks we have the most wonderful camera since she always looks so nice in our pictures!) With everything going on over the last couple months, the last thing I wanted to do was sift through all these pictures, so I just kept dumping things into folders. Now I have to go back and fix them little by little, removing that annoying spot.

Oh, and did I mention that my DH is quite fond of taking photos in TIFF format, which is nice because it gives me a good file to work with for touching up, but a pain in the backside because the file size is HUGE and takes a while to load. AND I have to convert them to jpegs before I can upload them. Yes, I do have quite a bit of work in front of me, since I haven't done anything more than take photos and offload the memory card into appropriate folders since last July. So there's a couple folders filled with pictures to label and touch up as needed, including almost 800 pictures from our vacation to Massachusetts last fall, and all the holidays since. Whew! You can see why I've been avoiding the camera.

In stitching news, I swear I have been making progress on Home By The Sea. My ornament projects, however, have really fallen by the way side. I can't even remember when the last time I stitched on an ornament was, and I feel terrible because one of the Bride's Tree sets I started on was for DH's cousin's wedding, which happens to be in about 2 weeks. I have exactly ONE ornament completed and "ornamentified", 2-3 more are stitched, and the rest of them are merely printed out charts. I suspect that I will wrap up the first ornament as a gift, with an IOU for the rest, to be delivered before the end of the year. I do believe etiquette gives a wedding guest up to a year to give a gift. I hope it doesn't take me THAT long. As for my own set, and the set I was working on for my best friend and her husband?? Well..... that's going to be a while yet.

I have one more PIF spot open. So far, I have two takers, Shel (Stash of Sanity) and Tammie (A Stitch in Time). If you'd like to receive a stitchy gift from me, post a comment and let me know, on the condition that you make the same offer on your own blog to send out 3 more PIFs. If you're on the fence, now's the time to jump. I have some plans in the works for Tammie and Shel that I'm very excited about. This is the first time I am participating in a PIF and I am really looking forward to it. If you're interested, let me know!

Check out this super-impressive database!

And I thought I was organized and on the ball! I have nothing on Allison when it comes to stash inventory software.

http://tbrexperience.blogspot.com/2008/03/look-at-organization-or-does-this-count.html

Thread Storage

Part two in a series exploring the depths of my maniacal organization.

This time we will discuss thread storage, but first let me share one more chart picture. These are my very small charts which are stored in their own little ziploc bag so I can find them easily without digging. They're of mixed subjects - mostly a few Christmas charts and 2 small birth samplers. I only have a couple of these, so obviously this solution works for now, but may need to be modified should I start acquiring more small charts.

Now, onto thread storage. This is the bulk of my threads - 3 plastic bobbin boxes and a larger plastic container (the next size up from the plastic shoebox size. I have several of these - you'll see why. They're very handy)

The bobbin boxes contain an almost complete set of DMC threads in numerical order wound on cardboard bobbins. I've tried several different bobbins and come back to the DMC cardboards ones as the sturdiest - the cheaper ones just don't hold up as well. Some of the numbers are handwritten on the bobbins, but most of them have the tiny little DMC stickers on them.

Using the DMC stickers serves another purpose other than just identifying the threads. I keep the unused stickers on their sheets and store them in a little ziploc bag (like the kind you get beads in, but a small snack size will work as well.) Whenever I go stash shopping, I take the stickers with me and I have a handy list of the colors I do not have on bobbins, so I can fill in my collection.

Also in this box, you can see the few spools of Kreinik threads that I have. There's only a couple, so they don't really need their own storage solution.

This is another box, the one where I keep my thread winder. If you're going to do floss bobbins, I HIGHLY recommend getting the thread winder. They're super cheap and SO helpful. I can clip it right to the edge of the floss box and wind onto the bobbins pretty quick. I did notice that the winder wobbles a little, so I wedge the plastic sample bobbin that came with the winder between the box and the winder legs and it makes for a tighter fit (and a less wobbly winder). I keep the winder in the box so I know where it is.

This is my skein storage solution - the ever present ziploc bags and a plastic storage container. After making a HUGE haul of DMC at Wal-Mart, I realized I couldn't wind over 400 skeins onto bobbins without losing my mind. Also, my DH prefers to use skeins and not bobbins for his threads, so this works for us.

The floss is sorted into bags by number: 100s, 200s, 300s, etc., and the bags are numbered accordingly. I find that if you squish all the air out of the bag before completely closing it, it forms something of a vaccum pack and takes up less room. Then the bags are stored in numberical order until the floss is needed.

Now, you may ask yourself - "How does she know what's in there? Does she dig through it looking for what she needs?" And the answer, my friends, is "Oh, I know. I have the Magic Excel Inventory Spreadsheet". Yes, you heard me. The Magic Excel Inventory Spreadsheet. Okay, not entirely magic as it does not accomodate for human error / laziness, which occasionally happens, but for the most part it's a good system. One of the tabs on the sheet contains the complete list of DMC colors by number and description, and I have columns for bobbins and skeins which list the number I have of each. If new thread comes in, I add to the spreadsheet. If a bobbin or skein is removed from storage, the number on the spreadsheet is reduced appropriately. (This is where the human factor comes in as I am usually a little more lax about taking off than I am adding to). When I am kitting up a project, I need only to consult the Magic Spreadsheet to see what threads I have and what threads I need. It's about 95% accurate, depending on how much kitting up I've done and how recently I've pitched a hissy and re-inventoried everything.

There are lots of other goodies on the excel spreadsheet which is really the subject for another post. (If you would like a copy of a blank spreadsheet to do your own inventory, let me know. Probably I'll share.)

Seeing as how I have probably overwhelmed a lot of people, I will leave you with one last photo and let you begin the recovery process. This is our Ort Jar, born before we even knew what an Ort was. (For those of you that don't know, "ort" stands for old ragged thread, or the snippets of leftover threads). It's a candy jar we enlisted as a place to throw our snips of thread, and it contains pretty much every single snippet since we started stitching in 2002-2003, minus some threads I put out for the birds for nest building and the threads from our wedding sampler, which live in a glass Christmas ornament. Sometimes I squish down the threads to make more room, and no, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it once I can't squish them down any more.

A peek inside my stash storage

The other day, Michele asked how I stored my stash. Michele is a relatively new stitcher and she's been trying to figure out the best way to store her rapidly accumulating stitching stash. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how much are a bunch of pictures AND a thousand words worth? Seriously. I talk a lot. I have degrees in English. I'm pretty sure I am supposed to.

Anyway, I told Michele I was thinking about doing a post like this anyway, so I dragged out a bunch of my stuff and take some pictures so she could see for herself what works best for me. I also thought it would be interesting to see how other people store and organize their stash, so if you've got pictures or done a post on this, let us know. I love seeing what other people do, and many times, I can adapt their ideas to my own needs.

Okay, here we have the bulk of my stash storage - my underbed storage boxes. As you can see, these are labeled on the top and on the front so I know what's in them by just pulling them out a few inches.

In case you weren't aware, I LOVE underbed storage boxes. I can get 6 under the double bed in our guest room, and at least 8, possibly 10 under the king size bed in our room. (And 3 fit nicely under a twin size bed.) I love these boxes because they make otherwise wasted space useful, and they're not so deep you have to go digging through them to find things. I have 2 for my stitching stash, and 2 for photo album / scrapbooking stuff. I also keep my bed sheets in them, as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. The plastic keeps them clean and dust free, and the lids snap on tight.

Now we remove the lids and see what's inside. This is my first box - mostly fabric storage. Most of the stuff on top are rolls of fabric I picked up at Wal-Mart when it was clearancing out the needlework supplies. I also have a few of those plastic "envelopes" underneath, and another roll folded over on itself.

I also found that I can get at least 2 cuts of fabric rolled up inside the plastic tubes or boxes, so I doubled up some of the rolls I had, which takes up less space. I also keep the extra pieces of the same count rolled up in those tubes. Keeping the fabric rolled is a good way to store it without worrying about wrinkles. But those boxes do take up a lot of space, so doubling up helps.

Also in the box are my scroll frames that are not in use. The largest one takes up the most room, but I do take all of them apart before storing them. The smaller frame ends will fit across the width of the box, but usually the scroll rods need to be put in the long way.

You can also see a book under the scroll rod, and underneath that are more printed items - mostly books and magazines. I confess to having some non-needlework related items in there, such as a few craft and beading magazines, mostly because I don't have anywhere else to keep them and I don't mind keeping craft related things together even if they're not the exact same thing.

Here's a close up on the ends of the scroll frames, some plastic DMC Envelopes and some small bags of fabric cuts from my LNS. The LNS labels them, so I keep them in their original bags until I use them so I know exactly what they are.

I'm not quite as fabric obsessed as I've seen some stitchers, though I am not saying this isn't subject to change. I've been known to become obsessed about things - who knows what could happen? But since my fabric stash is relatively small and simple, this solution works for me. I think the key is labeling, and putting things back where they belong. Because fabric count can really screw up a project in ways you don't even know until you're too far into it, it's important to know what count your fabric is and to keep it labeled. I also like keeping pieces in their own individual bags - I don't worry about it because I don't have any hand dyeds, but I would imagine bleeding might be a problem, especially in humid climates, if they weren't kept seperate from each other.

Probably I should also be concerned about using plastic to store my stash, but to be honest, I'm not all that worried about it. I don't stitch on or with super expensive fibers and fabrics, and I rotate through what I have pretty frequently so that things are not sitting in plastic for years on end. And since the boxes are stored under beds in our main living area and not in a garage or attic where extreme temperatures, humidity, bugs, etc. are an issue, I think I'm okay with these boxes. (Temperature and humidity control are another reason I love underbed storage).

On to Box #2 - Chart, Kit and WIP Storage

In this are most of my unstitched charts, kits and a few books, as well as some WIPs I got tired of working on. (My more active WIPs are in my stitching box in my stitching area.) I also have a few reference books in here, the ones that don't fit in the other box.

Speaking of reference books, one I highly recommend is 2001 Cross Stitch Designs by Better Homes and Gardens. I don't think it ever hurts to have a few good stitching reference books, not only for small motif type patterns, but for basic stitching and finishing techniques. My recommendation is to hit up your local library and see what they have, and more importantly, what appeals to you, then purchase the ones you like the best for your own collection. You can go the bookstore route, but don't forget about half.com, which is where I got my copy of the book (after checking it out at the library). You don't need to go crazy with reference books, but it's nice to have them on hand. At some point, my reference books are going to need to move to an actual bookshelf because they're taking up valuable stash storage space.

Also in Storage Box #2 is my collection of unstitched, unkitted charts and a few stitching magazines. The charts are grouped by subject / occasion, as in all the wedding charts are together, all the lighthouse charts are together, etc. These are all charts that I haven't stitched, or will stitch again at some point. If I think I'll need it, it stays in the box. If I don't think I'll ever stitch it, or a portion of it, again, the chart gets moved into one of my binders which is the subject of another post.

Also, because I don't have a lot of magazines to worry about, I just keep them in with my other charts. For people with a lot of magazines, I'd probably recommend looking into a magazine specific storage solution, especially if your magazines are rare and/or expensive.

You can also see my small kits, mostly Dimensions kits, in the box. They're all removed from their plastic store packaging and put in quart size ziploc bags, which take up MUCH less room and are easier to store.

I do confess that some of these charts have been in there a while as I don't stitch much from kits anymore. Eventually I will probably make myself complete the kits as part of a stash clean out challenge, but I don't think that will be for a while yet.

On top of the magazines and unstitched charts, I put kitted up charts, each of which gets their own plastic gallon size storage bag that contains the chart, the fabric, and the necessary fibers for the project. You can also see I fill in the space between the two piles with my extra scroll frames.

So there was your little sneak peek into my stash storage solutions. Next time, I will post pictures of my thread storage and my active stitching boxes.

UPDATE: Check out blogs by Cathey (Pumpkin Patch & Co.) and Teejay (The Passion of my Needle) for their storage solutions.

And now back to our regularly scheduled stitching posts...

After several self-indulgent meme posts, it's time to get back to posting about stitching. I promised Kim I would post a picture of my latest finish - LHN's Princess and The Pea:

I stitched with the recommended threads over 2 on 28 ct. linen. I've loved this design since the first time I saw it and I'm really pleased with how it came out. If I were to restitch though, I'd probably go with a DMC brown - I'm not much for the varigated color in this instance. Also, I'd probably use a DMC white or off white instead of the recommended Toasted Marshmallow. I didn't see enough of a difference to warrant the extra expense of the overdyed thread. However, I do love how the pinks and greens came out! I don't have it framed yet, and it will probably end up in a little girl's room some day (I hope!)

I also stitched up this little cutie, designed by Emily at The Floss Box. You can find the pattern for the Mini Scientist here. I made a few modifications, and my scientist husband is now the proud owner of a new scissor fob.

On the back, I stitched his initials and the date. This was stitched over 2 on a scrap piece of 28 ct. evenweave with DMC floss. I'm not totally pleased with the finishing, so I may restitch it on a slightly larger piece of fabric.

And last but not least, I received a LONG AWAITED order from an ONS that shall remain nameless. I ordered way back in the beginning of December, originally just looking for some Wisper thread to finish up an ornament. I stumbled across a good sale and couldn't resist picking up a few patterns and some new needles at a very good price. Everything was in stock, I received and order confirmation and the credit card was charged. I was eagerly awaiting my new goodies and became concerned when they hadn't shown up 10 days later. I checked the website and found that my order was being delayed for an out of stock chart. I also noticed that the store would be closing for a 2 week period at the end of December into January.

I checked daily for the update, and nothing changed, so I contacted the owner after Christmas and was informed that they were still waiting for an out of stock chart. I was more than a little annoyed, especially since my CC was charged when I placed the order and I received absolutely no indication that this chart was out of stock when I ordered. The owner's email seemed very indifferent and offered no explanation or even apology for the delay. I briefly debated cancelling the order due to poor customer service, but scratched that idea when I read their cancellation policies (they whack you a 15% surcharge for ALL cancelled orders). I decided to wait it out and I FINALLY got my charts today, a good six weeks after they were ordered.

I personally feel that not indicating items are out of stock, delaying whole orders without contacting the customer, and charging a credit card six weeks before you ship are all indicative of poor business practices. I would have liked to have had the option to cancel the out of stock items out of my cart before ordering or at least been notified of what was going on without having to chase the owner down. I like ordering from independent needlework shops because it helps keep them open, and in return, I expect good customer service. I'm even willing to pay a little extra to help keep people passionate enough about the craft to run a shop in business, but I won't give my money to someone who doesn't seem to care about their customers. There are plenty of other shops to purchase from.

Anyway, enough ranting. I didn't take any pictures of my new stash, but I did pick up some Thread Heaven and some John James needles (I really like them so far - I was stitching with them tonight.) I also picked up The Sweetheart Tree's Snowflakes in the Pines, LHN's Blueberries and The Cat's Whisker's Alyssum Scissor Pocket.

SBQ: Stash Questions (11/28/2007)

This set of SBQs was submitted by Heather. I've editied out a lot of the context, but you can read the whole thing here.

1. What would your stash tell others about you?
That I have a short attention span, and like a lot of different themes and ideas. Many of my patterns were stitched for gifts and I try hard to match the personality of the recipient or reflect the theme of the occasion, such as a wedding. I have charts that range from complicated and realistic to simple and primitive. My own personal charts reflect things that are important to me - my Irish heritage, lighthouses and nature.

2. Most of us stitchers joke about having reached SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy), but what would you like done with your stash after your death? Do you want it to reach other stitchers who will love it, too? Would your family know what to do with it or recognize its value?
I don't like to think about things like death or destruction (losing everything in a flood or fire). Forced to consider the subject, I would say that I hope I have children that are stitchers, or that my nieces or nephew take up the craft and would want my patterns. I'd also hope that many of the stitched pieces we keep for ourselves (both my DH and I stitch) would be passed down to future generations as family heirlooms. As it stands now, however, I don't know if anyone would recognize the value of what we have, though we don't own any rare or expensive patterns or materials. I would hope that it would be sold or given to someone who would use an appreciate it rather than thrown away

3. How well organized is your stash –could it be sold easily or would it require lots of organizing? What would you like to see done with the funds collected from such a sale?
Our stash, compared to some others, is fairly small - it fits mostly in 2 under bed storage boxes, plus a few binders. I've been working on an excel spreadsheet for inventory, so hopefully that would help, but I don't really keep track of prices (I'm afraid it would be too shocking to add up everything that has been spent). If my stash was not given to a family member or another stitcher, I would like my family to profit from the sale of the stash

4. Are there items in your stash which are rare and highly desired by stitchers that might make a much larger amount of money if sold on eBay? Have you done anything to designate which items these more valuable ones are to guide your family in how to handle them? Who would you tell your family should handle such a sale so that they don’t have to do it themselves? Have you done anything to make these thoughts known to others, either through discussions or through a codicil to your will?
I don't own anything particularly rare or expensive, but when the time comes, I will probably add a notation to our wills designating who gets what. I'd probably want everyone to pick the pieces that mean the most to them.

5. Have you ever attended a similar sale of a passed stitcher’s stash? How did it make you feel? Did it encourage you to make any changes in your stitching lifestyle?
I've never attended such a sale, though I have been to estate sales for other antique items. I appreciate the value of treasured, well cared for items that are passed through generations and that have sentimental value. I have a green depression glass bowl from my grandmother that means more than any price tag that could be put on it, and I hope that some day, things that meant a lot to me will mean a lot to future generations of my family. And if it's not my family, then I hope those things find their way to someone who will love them.

Look what came back from the framers!

Rocky Point by Dimensions (kit)
This is one of the first pieces my DH stitched. I know! Quite ambitious!!! It took him over a year to stitch the piece, and it languished in a drawer for a few more until my MIL asked us what we wanted for Christmas. DH and I had been discussing getting some of our more complicated pieces professionally framed, but the expense was a little daunting. However, getting one or two pieces at a time done made it less daunting, so we asked MIL if she'd like to foot the bill to have this piece framed. She thought it was a wonderful idea, so I took it to my LNS to have it done and picked it up yesterday. It's absolutely gorgeous, and will have a place of honor in our new home.

A few other things also managed to follow me out of the store. I don't know how it happened. Really. I swear. LHN's Princess and the Pea followed me home. I was just going to stitch it in DMC floss, but then I thought well why not stitch it in the recommended fibers, so that necessitated an order from Stitcher's Closet when I got home. And then I saw on Kim's blog that she was working on the piece as well, so we'll be stitching them together as soon as my fibers arrive

Also following me home were threads I picked for Carriage House Sampling's Acorns and Threads. I went with GAST Dark Chocolate, Apple Cider and Chamomile instead of the recommended fibers. (A gorgeous dark blue/purple called Auntie Dee slipped in there as well, though I am not sure what I will use it for). And then there was the Crescent Colors Belle Soie in Creme de Menthe that will probably be used for some Christmas ornaments.

Finally, some fabrics. I've been deciding on a few ornaments to do from the JCS ornament issue and decided on Snow Bunnies and Winter Love for myself, and DH is going to do the woodpecker. Our house backs up to woods and we have a feeder on our deck, so we get lots of different birds for us (and our cat!) to enjoy looking at. My favorite is the red bellied woodpecker with the cool red head (like me!), but DH likes the downy and hairy woodpeckers - the black and white ones with the tiny little red stripe on the males. I've been looking for a woodpecker ornament for our tree for a while now, so this is perfect.

Last night, I made a little more progress on Nautical Dreams, but I didn't take any pictures. I need to hurry up and get it done because I can feel myself getting bored doing it and itching to work on new projects.

Catching up on SBQs

I thought I'd do some catching up by answering a few SBQs.

9/5/07: Would you ever stitch one of your BAPs a second time? (This does not include starting over because of mistakes, bad fabric, etc., rather stitching something from the first stitch for a second time.)

Hmmmm. I've never really taken on a HUGE project, though some have been complicated. Probably the most time consuming project I've ever done is the one I did for my friend Michelle's daughter. It was the first time I stitched on plastic canvas, so that was a neat experience, but by the time I was finished with it, I was very, very, very glad I was done. It took me almost 8 months to stitch and finish the piece, and the backstitching drove me nuts, but I think it came out really nice. I'd never stitch it again though. In fact, I should probably go through my stash and look for things like that I can trade.

(BTW, this picture looks a little blurry in spots on purpose for privacy)


8/15/07: How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you? (Submitted by Jennifer)

Believe it or not, my husband got me started on cross stitching - about 4 years ago. We were looking for a new hobby to try and decided to try cross stitching. I had done embroidery a very long time ago when I was a child (my grandmother and mother taught me) and I had done a bit of stamped cross stitch, but never counted. So we picked up a few kits and it blossomed from there. The very first piece we completed together was a birth announcement for our niece.


7/28/07: Have you ever thought of getting a rider on your household insurance to properly cover your stash (some of us have quite an extensive stash that an average household policy wouldn’t fully cover) in the case of some sort of damage to your house that would destroy/ruin charts, fabrics, floss, etc? (Submitted by Dani)

I never thought about that until I saw this question, and based on what I've seen in some stitching blogs, my stash is nowhere near the size of what some of you have (I'm jealous!) However, we've been acquiring more and more charts and threads and that, combined with my jewelry making supplies and my husband's stained glass supplies and tools will probably make it necessary for us to consider adding onto our insurance policies. And we'll end up moving them on our own when we move to a new house because I don't want anyone else packing and moving them.

In fact, I was talking about this at the LNS the last time I was in and the shop owner said she has some stuff covered, but she has some huge, complicated pieces that she can't put a value on. She could cover the cost of replacing the matierals, but never the time and effort that went into stitching the piece.


7/19/07: Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why. (Submitted by Ish)

Of all the pieces I've completed, I'd probably have to pick Peas in a Pod by Sue Hillis because I stitched it in secret for my husband for Valentine's Day. It has special meaning for us and even though it's a very simple design, I am really proud of the way it came out. I did all the framing myself on it as well (okay, I bought the frame and mats online but I did put it together!)

Updated Stitching Picture and my floss pile

First, here's the latest on Nautical Dreams.

I got some stitching in over the holidays, but it wasn't the same as being home. I'm more comfortable in my own chair and with better lighting, but I made do because I really want to get this project done. And it inspired my MIL to ask me to teach her to stitch when she retires next year.

And this is the MASSIVE pile of floss we picked up on our drive on Wednesday, plus what I picked up today. I had debated whether or not to take a chance on going to the Wal-Mart a little further away today and I'm glad I did. There's probably about 400 skeins in this pile, just waiting to be sorted out.

Bag Sale Day

Saturday was Bag Sale day at my LNS, the Strawberry Sampler. For $12, you purchase a canvas bag and a punch card which is good for a year from the date of purchase. On the 3rd Saturday of the month, everything you can fit in the bag is 20% off. They punch your card for the appropriate month and send you on your way. I bought mine in January when I purchased the Long Dog Paradigm Lost and the fabric to go with it, and it saved me way more than it cost. Definitely well worth the $12 since I used it several more times this year.

This time, I went in to pick up Acorns and Threads. It seemed like every time I went in there, they had just sold the last one, so the held one for me. I also picked up CCN's Winter Welcome that I had been eying up, and a tiny little Sweet Nothing Marriage Sampler by JBW Designs. I like keeping a few small charts on hand that stitch up quick for a gift. I also have Serendipity Designs "Snips and Snails" and "Sugar and Spice" on hand for baby gifts.

I also picked up fabric that I needed for a few projects. The first is Blue Crab by Judy Greer Carmean that I purchased at Sea Needles this summer. I don't have any photos of it since I bought the chart based on the stitched model (there wasn't a photo in the package). But it's a typical Maryland Blue Crab on a white background. The chart came already kitted up with floss and 14 count Aida fabric, but I like the look of a higher count so much better, so I picked up a piece of 28 ct. Lambswool to stitch it on instead (it will look more like sand). I thought about switching out the threads to overdyed but changed my mind. Depending on how it stitches up, maybe I will restitch it over one and make a smaller version with the overdyed threads. We'll see.

I picked out a 28 ct. fabric in Pewter for The Design Connection's Pemaquid Point. Their model was stitched on 14 ct. white aida, but I thought the blue-grey color would look nicer. There will be a little problem at the bottom of the picture where the rocks fade into the fabric, but we can just mat over that section when we frame it. And I got a 28 ct. in Forget Me Not (a pale blue) for Durham Cathedral by Heirlooms Needlecraft, a chart my husband brought back from England when he worked there last year. Once again, the chart was kitted up with white Aida fabric and Anchor threads, but I wanted to use a higher count and different color.

$50 and a LOT of self control later, we left the shop. There were at least half a dozen other new projects I would have loved to pick up, but I resisted. We'll be moving soon and I already have a pile of things to work on. (And I was under heavy supervision LOL). I'm happy with what I picked up and I left myself some things to look forward to, including this gorgeous Celtic Banner by Butternut Road. That's going right on my wishlist!

Finally, I made more progress on my Nautical Dreams, mostly with outlining and filling in the large blocks of color on the stripes. I have one more section on top to finish, plus the rope outline, then the personalization. I'm getting there!