Back in October I shared with everyone that I was putting myself on a "stash diet". My goal was to spend as little as possible on new stitching stash, supplies, etc. and with any luck, spend nothing at all. Because I do need to buy some new supplies, I gave myself a "reward" system where I can earn credits. You can find all the details on my plan here.
So, a little over a month has gone by, so as promised, I'm sharing my results with everyone, just to hold myself accountable. :)
Opening Balance = $0.00
Finishes = $21.00
Purchases = $60.01
Balance Forward = ($39.01)
Yes, I ended the month in the red *sigh*, but they were ALL very important purchases! Alas, I'll share all the pluses and minuses below.
Finishes
November Patchwork Pincushion = $5.00
December Patchwork Pincushion = $5.00
Modern Dictionary: XXX = $5.00 (future pattern to be released so I'm not saying what word it is yet)
Westie Silhouette = $5.00
Xmas Ornament = $5.00
The Xmas ornament I'll share a pic of later, as it's getting mailed in the morning for an exchange, so I can't share it online yet. The Modern Dictionary piece will be released either Jan. 1st or 15th, so you'll have to wait until then to find out what it is. The pincushions and Westie will all be available for purchase online in the next 24-48 hours.
Purchases
2 new charts (can't share pics as they're both for gifts for people in the Spring), and some floss. In fact $40+ in floss.
Let me introduce you to my new friend I've named "Giganto"
Giganto is 2,100 meters or 283 skeins worth of DMC #310, and I used the ruler so you can see it is about 6-1/2" high. I was "forced" to buy it by "Kris" from Kris'Stitches and the other ladies at my Saturday stitching group. They held me down and told me I wasn't leaving the store until I agreed to buy one. Nah...I'm just kidding. No holding down was involved, but we certainly do enable each other. Instead of looking at it as SPENDING money, we're going to think of it as SAVING money. If I were to buy 283 skeins of DMC floss, I would have spent an extra $70+ more than what I did buying my new friend. So, it looks like I'll be stitching all my silhouette models in black for the rest of my life, LOL!
All in all, I'm happy with my spending for the month. I certainly could have spent A LOT more, especially considering the emails I've been receiving over the past week with Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. But, I was a good girl and deleted every single one of them without even opening them....even the fabric sales.
Stay tuned for how I do in December. And since I heard from so many of you after my last post, if you're doing your own stitch from stash, and have a blog you want to share, please be sure to leave a link to your latest recap in the comments below.
Until the next time...Happy Stitching!
I've been quite the busy beaver with my stitching the last couple weeks and am happy to say I've kept current with my thread-a-day stitching. I missed 3 days, but only because I realized I was off by one thread on my fabric and had to do some "reverse stitching", which I didn't want to try and rush in the mornings before work. I saved that for the weekend while I was at a stitch-in, picked it all out and then caught back up to where I should have been.
This is my progress as of this morning. I'm probably about 60-65% done with the design.
In other stitching news, as mentioned above, I was at a stitch-in near Death Valley again last weekend. As usual, it was a great time with good company, lots of laughs and plenty of stitching going on.
I finished the November/December pincushions and shipped those off this week for finishing. I'm expecting to have the chart released in the next week or so.
I've also been treating my next silhouette design as a thread-a-day. It's also currently in the 60-65% range of being done.
And because you can never take too many projects with you to a stitch-in, I decided to take along my Pinwheel Halloween Quilt. Unfortunately I haven't given it any love since the middle of August. :( After finishing my pincushions, I decided to give myself a week off before I started any real serious stitching on my next design model, which means I've put a few extra stitches in the PHQ. This is my progress as of this morning.
Not a ton done, but I have started on the first green & purple pinwheel, along with some stitches on the black border. I'll try to get some of the non-solid colored pinwheel segments done prior to posting my next update on it.
I've also made the decision, in an effort to keep my stitching more relaxed and not feeling quite so much like work, that all new design releases will be done on the 1st and 15th of each month. If something isn't done for a release date I'm not going to stress over it and will just have it ready for the next one. Hopefully that will also allow you, my awesome fans, know when to expect to see new designs.
With all that being said, and my relaxation week of reading, TV watching and casual stitching over, it's time for me to start charting my next design and get busy stitching the model.
And if you happen to be stitching any of my designs, and are on Facebook, please feel free to join our group there to share photos, chat, etc.
Until the next time...Happy Stitching!
Unfortunately as a designer I will probably never be as popular as
Lizzie Kate, Nora Corbett, Joan Elliott, Ursula Michaels and many other
greats. With that being said I've decided I need to quit putting so
much pressure on myself to keep up with them (I do have to work a
full-time job and all to pay the bills). Since I've forced myself to face that realization, I've decided I need more "balance" in my stitching life. And if I haven't said it already, I must tell you that going to a thread-a-day piece has been one of the best things for my stitching life I've done in a long, long time! It feels great to know I've given myself permission to quit worrying about cranking out new designs as quickly as I can and just to enjoy the stitching I'm doing. Not only am I enjoying the pieces I'm stitching for myself, but I'm enjoying the design models I'm stitching much more also. They no longer feel quite so much like "work".
I started my Tribal Shamrock 20 days ago, and haven't missed a day yet! As you can see from this picture, it's coming along quite nicely.
I'm more than 25% done and am loving every minute I get to stitch on it. If I stay on track, this should be done well before the end of the year and I can move along to my next thread-a-day project. :)
In other stitching news, the November Patchwork Pincushion is complete and the December is about 60% stitched. I'm hoping to have in done in the next day or so and get those shipped off for finishing and the pattern release. I'm also about 33% done with the next dog silhouette.
So, since I went out and walked a Veteran's Day 5k this morning (hills included) without the use of my knee brace, I think I'll walk myself back to my recliner and get on with my stitching.
Until the next time...Happy Stitching!
