Just a little of the new stash I've been ebaying for. I like the threads a lot, can't wait to use them! They come in 20 yard hanks and are very reasonably priced from the Victorian Motto (??) ebay shop . I got a grab bag and Nancy kindly takes requests for your color preferences. She did also include a free red, yum!

I had my basket loaded at Vicki Clayton's HDF for some choices to do the Sarah Tobias pin cushion in the colors I envision, but I guess I left them too long and the basket timed out. Have you seen she is doing linen now? I just don't think that's fair, I want some!

No progress last night on Live, I am simply too tired these days. Spent too much time trying to get a DVD to play to entertain me while I stitch.

Labels: new stash

Here is my WIP of SB "Live", I got about half and hour in yesterday night at my mom's birthday party, it's close to half finished. I love the colors (SB is amazing) and it really pops on the R & R linen. The linen is so pretty I could frame it alone, and the whole piece is mottled subtly, delicious! It felt good to be stitching again. I think part of the reason I don't anymore is that I don't have anywhere comfortable to sit that has good lighting. Something to think about...

I was thinking a good motivator for getting my office clean (the room that has not had floor for 4 years now) would be to take pics and post them here. Perhaps I will be ridiculed enough about the way I treat my poor stash that I will have to change!

Labels: Live kit, Shepherd's Bush, WIP

I have been perusing Cricket Collection on ebay again, it finally dawned on me that they have several hundred leaflets, probably not something I will end up with a full collection of. Which won't stop me from trying! I did buy a few things, this was one-Leisure Arts Old Samplers Book Two


I spotted a bunch of my old magazines in the closet and pulled them out for inspection. I have tubs full of them: Cross Stitch & Country Crafts, Jeremiah Junction-can't remember the mag name, Just Cross Stitch, For the Love of Cross Stitch, The Cross Stitcher, etc. Years worth of collecting online, by subscription, and from second hand shops. I used to go through them and write the highlights on a sticky label on the cover so I could see at a glance without opening them. Geesh I had bad taste back then, LOL. OK, I had small kids, I was young, and country was cool back then, besides that's all there was! At least even then Cherished Teddies and Precious Moments gave me a rash (no offense to Gloria and Pat, they do a great job translating them to graphs).

I looked through the mags remembering what I'd bought them for, sadly most not to my taste. However, I found some really awesome treasures like Kandace Thomas, etc. I went ahead and photocopied my treasures for a binder to put together, some of these old mags are stuck together with who knows what or falling to pieces. I know I could make a ton of space by getting rid of them now, but what if my tastes change in 5 years and I need something out of them??? Case in point: I have several LHN designs from 15 year old mags that I have kept. Back then they weren't my cup of tea, nor did I have any idea they ever would be. Imagine how much I'd have to pay to get them now? We all know I would HAVE to hunt them down.

This does bring to mind though, many blogs I've been reading have been about downsizing stash. I never wanted to get rid of mine, in fact when I got remarried my new DH suggested I might want to get rid of it and it got ugly. I think if he'd suggested severing my arm he would have gotten a nicer and less shocked response! Anyway, I have literally stacks on the floor in my office of pattern, on many bookshelves, in tubs in the garage, etc. and these are just patterns. I have been trying to corral them into some order but can't seem to figure out a good method, at this point I'd settle for off the floor so the dogs won't step on them and we can get throught the office to the garage ;) The other night I was trying to stack them on a bookshelf thinking if they were stacked in piles rather than lined up like books there would be room for more. Of course I'll never find a blessed thing now that I've moved them--over 2,000 patterns in my incomplete database and I knew just where most of them were until now, sigh. Anyhoo, I was stacking and looking and I realized I didn't like this one, or that one, and hey, I like that one but I've looked at it so much it would be boring to stitch, and so on. Am I outgrowing my stash? Do I hang on and hope I will come to my senses? Shall I do a mass exodus of stash? Help!

And lastly, the Beanie dog (in picture, under son) has taken to shredding paper when he gets nervous so our long hallway is full of paper bits all the time. Yesterday I found a tiny corner of a Cricket Collection chart, but it's so tiny I can't tell what chart. AUGH!!!

Off to a hike with my little Tiger Scouts!

So I bit the bullet and ordered this chart, been wanting to forever and tried a few times but no one could get it for me. So I tried Wyndham Needleworks, we shall see. Bad me!

No stitching yet, starting to worry I may collect but never stitch again, lol.

So we all know I kitted up the pincushion from BD "Thank you, Sarah Tobias", then didn't like the thread I chose, not enough variation, and also didn't look like the thread in the picture. Normally I like the way my own choices look but every once in awhile I need that exact thread/fabric/frame whatever and apparently this is one of those times. So I dug around and found the GAST limited edition Lilypad and thought it might be good enough although not the same. So of course now I can't find my fabric and chart.

This weekend we went camping and I thought I'd have some stitching time, so I quick grabbed a small SB kit "Live" and then rummaged through fabric (no plain linen colors for me thanks!) and found an awesome R & R turquoisey color that sounds awful and looks great. I did take it on the trip, never started it though. Spent most of the day hauling rocks to repair trails, the rest of it exploring with the kids. We did drive up the mountain and take a ride on the ski lifts, too fun!

I have been getting odds and ends of stash from ebay the past two weeks, I can't get ebay to remind me of my password so I had to open a new account in my husband's name to not miss out on some deals while I wait for the password reminder to come by snail mail. He keeps opening my stash and looking very perplexed. I also bought some awesome fabric and older BD loose threads patterns from Cathy B. I really hate my cell phone cam being broken, it's such a pain to do real photos! I'll have to put it all together and take one soon.

I did submit an application for a fair and square exchange, hope to be accepted, seems like it's just what I need to get to stitching. I was looking back at all the round robin's I used to be in and how much fun I had, amazingly I was motivated and never missed a deadline. Wish I could get the nerve up to do a neighborhood round robin, although I wouldn't even being to know how or where to sign up for one!

Last night I wanted to stitch! For the first time in forever, I was itching to sit down and get moving. I didn't want to stitch any WIPs (if I haven't touched them for 6 months do I still get to call them WIPS?) so I started something new this morning. It's Sarah's ABC Pincushion by Cherie Ralston and is in the new Blackbird Designs Thank You, Sarah Tobias book (bottom project in the pic above). Btw, if you haven't bought this book, it's WELL worth the price!

I'm in a strange mood, none of my fabric was calling to me. I finally picked a 14 ct. aida (I have not worked on aida in years, and then nothing bigger than 18 ct), a white that I purposefully stained so it's an ugly splotchy antiquey look. For thread I picked an old Stranded by the Sea green/tan color. So this morning I put a few stitches in, finished the "S" in fact, then decided it's too green, not enough variation for this. So I think I'll use GAST Lilypad (?) and restart later. I feel good about this project though, just a small alphabet and a few words. I can do it!