An Organizational And Statistical Post

I love how sometimes one thing leads to another and things just, well, snowball. I am a member of a number of cross stitch discussion groups and on one of them a member had asked how many WIPs we had. Posting of pictures was also highly encouraged. I knew I had wanted to take another inventory of my Bin O' Shame and take pictures in order to show the world that I have no self control when it comes to my hobby. Here are the results after counting and organizing them:

38 in the Small Bin O' Shame

38 in the Large Bin O'Shame: 

11 in their own storage bins, 6 of those are Heaven and Earth Designs of various sizes and starts. :)

One queued up in my desk.

One in the Q-Snaps.

Total: 89.

Keep in mind that I am sitting on a 20+ year collection of stash and I have a chronic 'Ooooo, shiny!' condition that compels me to purchase and start more than I will ever probably complete.

The good news in all this, that because of that post my craft room got a wee bit more organized. I didn't feel like stitching last night as I stitched most of the day yesterday, so I went back through the Large Bin O'Shame and took a closer look as to what all was in there. Here are the results of that particular excavation:

1. Out of the 38 in that bin, 5 were removed due to no chart and/or I know I will never finish. I salvaged the fabric and put away the charts that I did have.
2. One more will need floss matching as it is a tiny kit from a UK mag with no DMC listed. I wound up using 2 strands of floss instead of the called for 1 and I'm sunk as to how it's going to be finished otherwise.
3. One tiny kit I found was converted to DMCs from another quite similar chart so it can now be re-stitched on a better fabric. The fabric that came in the kit is an 18 count fiddler's cloth and the pale colors just are not showing up. I consider this a fresh start as I had all of 3 (!) stitches in this piece and left it as the 347 disappeared into the fabric.

Additionally, I collated and counted the projects in the 'To Be Started' bin. 76 in that bin, 6 of those are Heaven and Earth Designs of various sizes. 4 of those were 'shop exclusives' which turned out to not be as exclusive as advertised as the designer released the charts within the same year as stand alone charts. Since the likelihood of my being able to sell these kits for what I paid is slim to none, so stitched up they will be. This will teach me to never, ever sign up for 'year long shop exclusives' ever again!

The projects that I have in the 'To Do' bin are a mix that range from the tiny freebie kits that come with the UK magazines to Heaven and Earth Designs that have 110 pages. Other than my motorcycle, cross stitching is really my only other hobby. I have some years that I have finished less than ten, and others where I have had a high of 35 projects. (Admittedly, none of those were HAEDs, haha!).

I have my bouts of organization. This last one was prompted, believe it or not, by this thread. It was an interesting question and I knew I wanted to take pictures of my Bin O'Shame for another board I am on. This just sort of snowballed, as is my custom :). And yes, it is a bit frustrating, however, the task needed to be done and I am very happy something spurred me on to do it. I had gotten lazy with my craft room. While neat, it just was not very organized, so I took this opportunity to do so.

As for the projects, sometimes I have one in mind, other times I just blindly reach in for one and that's the one that gets picked. The one that is in the Q-Snaps right now is one that I picked back up on the first day of the Chinese New Year. It's a long time UFO (Unfinished Object) called Oriental Fortune by Dimensions. I started this on the aida that was in the kit and hated it, so it was restarted on an evenweave. Right now I have the main portion of it done and just need to stitch the symbols surrounding it and then the borders. And a happy dance will be danced but briefly before I get the one that's in my desk out to finish that one. :)

As for the things that I have where the stitching has been finished, welp, I've taken inventory on that as well. Please bear in mind that I am what I refer to as a 'seasonal' stitcher. Other than my craft room/office, I only put out a few pieces at a time, and those with a seasonal theme, as I believe that this is my hobby, my husband lives here as well, and I am sensitive to that fact. While he takes pleasure at the things I stitch, we don't live in a stitching museum :). Here is the total breakdown of finishes in my possession:

LK Monthly Series- 12

Spring- 25

Summer- 39

Fall- 44

Winter- 41

Miscellany- 76

Total As of Tuesday, February 24, 2015: 237

Finishes by year since Blog Start:

1. Year 2008 finishes -10

2. Year 2009 finishes- 21

3. Year 2010 finishes- 49

4. Year 2011 finishes- 26

5. Year 2012 finishes- 35

6. Year 2013 finishes- 7

7. Year 2014 finishes- 19

8. Year 2015 finishes- 7

Total As of Tuesday, February 24, 2015: 174

I think the blog has helped in keeping me on track with finishing pieces, however, I am really hoping to break my record of 19 WIPs/UFOs in one year. I have a goal of 25 at the moment, so that I can then get back to my QS Maleficent. I miss stitching on her!

Well, I best be off. Tons to do today. Hope everyone is having a great week!

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Respectfully submitted,

C.