Stitching from Stash Challenge Support/Confession Thread

[Rose]

Well I thought I would go ahead and add this topic so that those that have joined the challenge can come on and ask for support, or just see what others are doing.

Yesterday I had to go to the store and buy the fabric to finish off the binding on the quilt. It cost $6.99. I do not think that counts as it is for finishing even though it is not framing. I will add that into my confession at the end of the month and see if it count against me.

So far so good I am so focused on this finish that I am not tempted by anything else.

[MaggieM1750]

I am debating if I should officially join.. or just play along in spirit. I most definitely do not spend $25 on stitch stuff in a month. Especially since I bought quite a bit before my stitch shop closed. And had planned on stitching from stash anyways this year- I have quite a few projects less than half done that I need to finish up. I'm just not so good at reporting stuff, or checking in any place.

[fccs]

I'm hopeful about the challenge...it's just a good thing that only purchases count, not wish list additions. If nothing else, it will get me to really focus on my stash. I stocked up on the 31st but have made one purchase, but it wasn't my fault...I fell in love with a design in lytehouse's gallery.

[msufly]

Rose - you're right that your finishing fabric doesn't count. I think the biggest things that count are kits, patterns, floss, fabric to stitch on, needles, etc. And I'll be including any magazines I buy too since I don't subscribe to any because I prefer to pick and chose which mags to buy each month based on what's in them.

As fccs (debbie) knows, my LNS is very tempting with lots of neat patterns. I've only resisted stopping by so far this month because they're closed for several weeks. It's going to be hard not to buy anything when I go there to get pieces framed as the year goes by, plus I drive by it every time I go out to the barn to see my horse! I need to put blinders on to drive past!

[Tamnsin]

I have a confession to make. I had started to plan out my stitching wish list for the year and had ordered quite a bit before I heard about the challenge. As soon as I decided to join I went nuts and ordered a ton of stuff. That is how I spent my New Year's Eve. Frantically online shopping. I may have cleared out the inventory for my LNS Cecilia's Samplers and 123stitch.

I wonder how many others did the same.

[Allyn]

I joined. I found out about the challenge just a day before the sign-up deadline on the 2nd, but it really isn't a "challenge" for me. I spent $21 just before Christmas buying the floss and needles I need for my next project. My LNS was having a 30-percent-off sale and I took advantage of that to kit up my next project; but honestly, that's the only I money I've spent on stash in a very long time. I'm mostly in it for the comaraderie. I couldn't imagine spending $25 a month on consecutive months. I couldn't imagine what I'd buy. I used to be a 'collector' -- buying stash that I'd never have enough time in my lifetime to stitch, but I had to have it anyway. I'm not a 'collector' anymore, which saves me a lot of money.

[guenever]

great thread!

Tamnsin--lol--i can see you just buying away!

i joined too. since i am on a limited budget and the JE's dragonfly faeries should take me a looong time!

so far i spent seven dollars--on on dollar kits at ac moore--little ones to give me a break if i need it. and 2 needle threaders.

i am excited to see how this all works out!

[NeedleAndFork]

I am debating if I should officially join.. or just play along in spirit. I most definitely do not spend $25 on stitch stuff in a month. Especially since I bought quite a bit before my stitch shop closed. And had planned on stitching from stash anyways this year- I have quite a few projects less than half done that I need to finish up. I'm just not so good at reporting stuff, or checking in any place.

Oh come on, join in! There's no penalty if you end up overspending, so what's the harm?

I couldn't imagine spending $25 a month on consecutive months. I couldn't imagine what I'd buy. I used to be a 'collector' -- buying stash that I'd never have enough time in my lifetime to stitch, but I had to have it anyway. I'm not a 'collector' anymore, which saves me a lot of money.

I'm like you - when I was very into knitting, I would spend loads of money each month on yarn.. and even though I could knit through a good chunk of it I was still buying more than I could use. Now I have a lifetime supply, and for some reason my interest in knitting isn't as strong as it used to be. I've decided to take a more reasonable approach to cross stitch and not get into pieces that use lots of speciality threads.. that way my full set of DMC threads will work for almost any project I decided to make. My biggest expense is completing my DMC collection, but even that is nearly done. I think I am missing just about 50 colors now!

I don't forsee this challenge being too difficult for me.. unless i decide to buy a new frame or stand or something like that.

[Allyn]

...I've decided to take a more reasonable approach to cross stitch and not get into pieces that use lots of speciality threads.. that way my full set of DMC threads will work for almost any project I decided to make. My biggest expense is completing my DMC collection, but even that is nearly done. I think I am missing just about 50 colors now!

I had a full set of DMC about 18 years ago. I spent a lot of money acquiring all those skeins and today I still have quite a few colors that I haven't touched. I can tell because I used to bobbin all my colors. Today I have bobbins that are still full and never been touched. For me, buying all the colors just for the sake of having all the colors wasn't worth it. My projects usually require more than one skein of each of several colors in the chart, so having just one skein of each color doesn't help me, anyway.

[fccs]

As fccs (debbie) knows, my LNS is very tempting with lots of neat patterns. I've only resisted stopping by so far this month because they're closed for several weeks. It's going to be hard not to buy anything when I go there to get pieces framed as the year goes by, plus I drive by it every time I go out to the barn to see my horse! I need to put blinders on to drive past!

It is such a great shop...good luck with the blinders. And I just realized I'll have to be frugal on my next Louisiana trip. Uh-oh.

As soon as I decided to join I went nuts and ordered a ton of stuff. That is how I spent my New Year's Eve. Frantically online shopping. I may have cleared out the inventory for my LNS Cecilia's Samplers and 123stitch.

I wonder how many others did the same.

I ordered quite a bit also on NYE from 123stitch,mainly special fibers and fabby for charts to kit up, plus a couple new charts to do as gifts. Maybe it's a good thing that I have no LNS.

[Nachstenliebe]

I made my first purchase of 2014... Some threads and a little hanger thing to finish a previous project... Grand total of $9.87. I'm not a big stash spender so this challenge is going to be easy! Maybe I should challenge myself to actually spend $25 each month

[mechie]

I went to my LNS last week and made my first purchase of the year too. I've been wanting to make a small drawstring bag to hold my gaming dice for a while now, but hadn't found the right design to put on it. Well, last week I ran across this cute freebie dragon. He's the perfect size for what I want, but I didn't have all the supplies I needed so off to my LNS I went. I spent $19.13 on some fabric, 5 skeins of DMC, and 2 spools of Kreinik.

Then, yesterday the zippered pouch that I keep my WIPs in broke . The zipper completely came apart. I wonder if it would count toward my spending to replace it? It would be cross stitch related spending, but not exactly stash....

mechie

[perftangel]

I'm not a big stash spender so this challenge is going to be easy! Maybe I should challenge myself to actually spend $25 each month

I'm not either so I was totally thinking the same thing!!! When I do buy things it's usually like silks and hand dyed fabric so it's more than $25 anyway...

[Nachstenliebe]

I went to my LNS last week and made my first purchase of the year too. I've been wanting to make a small drawstring bag to hold my gaming dice for a while now, but hadn't found the right design to put on it. Well, last week I ran across this cute freebie dragon. He's the perfect size for what I want, but I didn't have all the supplies I needed so off to my LNS I went. I spent $19.13 on some fabric, 5 skeins of DMC, and 2 spools of Kreinik.

Then, yesterday the zippered pouch that I keep my WIPs in broke . The zipper completely came apart. I wonder if it would count toward my spending to replace it? It would be cross stitch related spending, but not exactly stash....

mechie

Good question! I would say that it isn't.. because it's not actual stash.. Just like things to finish designs (which I guess the hanger I purchased falls under this) isn't supposed to count either.. I'm thinking basics like patterns, fabrics, and threads or whatever we tend to squirrel large amounts of is what we're supposed to be including..And since I'm willing to bet you don't have a huge collection of zippered pouches it's not really "stash"
That's my two cents at least lol

[Allyn]

I just discovered that I'll have to make my first purchase of 2014. The materials list for my WIP doesn't list a thread color, but it's called for it in the text instructions. Drats. I studied the color chart, and decided that there wasn't thread color close enough to it that I'd be comfortable substituting (it's used in a blend -- gotta be careful with those blends) so it's off to the store this weekend to get a SINGLE skein of floss. .. . yep, my first purchase of 2014 will be 40 cents.

...Then, yesterday the zippered pouch that I keep my WIPs in broke . The zipper completely came apart. I wonder if it would count toward my spending to replace it? It would be cross stitch related spending, but not exactly stash....mechie

I feel confident saying that replacing the zipper on your bag -- or replacing the bag itself -- would not count toward stash. It's not stash; it's accoutrements.

[stitchingmae]

Well I spent 8 on floss away bags but used an amazon gift card that I got for Christmas.
I wil be going in the next two days to get some floss for the mystery AAN that I had already signed up for, so I dont know if this will count. She is saying that gift stitching doesnt count but that is most of my stitching. I am not one to purchase without a set plan, I do store freebie charts but I am not one to get on 123 stitch and go pattern or fabric happy.

This maybe easier than I thiught at first.

I am gonna count the floss until I find out differently.

[Rose]

Still have not purchased anything. Our monthly meeting for my stitching group meets at our LNS this month so I will have to see if I am tempted. I don't think so since I have already bought the new DMC from her the last time we met there.

[NeedleAndFork]

I had a full set of DMC about 18 years ago. I spent a lot of money acquiring all those skeins and today I still have quite a few colors that I haven't touched. I can tell because I used to bobbin all my colors. Today I have bobbins that are still full and never been touched. For me, buying all the colors just for the sake of having all the colors wasn't worth it. My projects usually require more than one skein of each of several colors in the chart, so having just one skein of each color doesn't help me, anyway.

Perfect proof for how all of us are so different in the way we stitch! I love patterns with lots of subtle shading, which means that I'll often need very specific colors that are hard to switch out. I also work on HAEDs that have 90 colors, but often need just a little bit of each color except for a few main colors. Between these two, I found that no matter what project I wanted to start, even after owning half of the entire line of DMC color range, I was still missing a few colors. This got so irritating that I decided to go ahead and fill out my entire collection in small chunks at a time. Part of it also is that I live in a town where the only place to get DMC is walmart which has a very limited selection. So if I want to start a piece and I'm missing a color, I have to either wait till I am visiting a larger city, or order online. I'd rather spend what I would spendin shipping fees placing smaller orders frequently on actual stash instead, so whenever I'm in a town that has a joanns or a micheals, I buy about $20 worth of floss. I'm sure I'll have some colors that will hardly see any use over the years, but I prefer the knowledge that no matter what pattern I want to start, I can..

[msufly]

I made my first purchase yesterday at my LNS when I dropped off Christmas Tree Farm for framing. I bought fabric and some Sampler & WDW floss for a pattern in my stash...I could have done without the floss and just used the substituted DMC colors but I chose not to. I also bought a CCN ornament pattern for $6. Spent $23 but I still had $10 left of xmas gift money so I'm at about $12 for the month.

The framing will be done in about a week so I'll just have to keep my resolve to not buy anything when I pick it up. Hopefully ABCs of Parenting will be finished by then so I can drop it off. Good thing finishing and framing costs don't count!

[fccs]

I don't think I would have such willpower if I lived near your LNS!

So far I have only spent $9...and I have to be honest, it's been hard!!