My Organizational Crusade Continues

These buddies are two of my frame weights. I made them from little stuffed animals I had laying around. I cut them open, emptied their tummies of poly beads and refilled them with buckshot (bought in WalMart's hunting and fishing department.) They make me smile every time I look at them and use them. Cute, huh?

They're watching me with wrapt attention, because I was dancing around, and patting myself on the back for cleverly creating another stitching corner in my tiny house. It was supposed to be part of the kitchen area, but because it was too small for a full dining table, it was really just a catch-all space. I had an AHA! moment one day, and decided to turn it into another stitching area. Again, I placed a few of my 4'x6' metal grids against the wall, so now I can hang and rearrange various and sundry WIP projects and other neato stitchy stuff. Here it is:


And here's my current "meditation canvas" - the one I stare at to think about what threads and stitches to use on it:


Whew. After my heady organizational whirlwind this weekend, I'm pooped (and more than a little stiff). I think I need to sit down and do a bit of stitching. .(I think I deserve it, don't you?)

Katie and I will just sit quietly and watch the squirrels outside rearranging their nut stash yet again.


Ta ta for now. Gotta go stitch something....

More Organization Ideas!

This is for all you Stitchy Stash Organizers out there....
(and you know who you are!)


Have you ever thought about keeping track of the different threads you use on each project? If you're the type of stitcher who keeps a journal with all of your stitched projects, maybe you should consider keeping little thread snippets along with your written entries. It might come in handy when, say a few years down the road, you decide to stitch a canvas or chart with those yummy colors you hand-picked for an earlier project. Now, which blue did you use that matched your sofa exactly?? If you had kept a thread card with the ACTUAL threads you used, you would have a much easier time locating the right threads.

Or how about this scenario: you want to use a fuzzy, textured thread but don't want to use that particular thread that drove you crazy...which thread was it that you SWORE you wouldn't stitch with again?!? Well, if you made thread cards for each of your projects, you'd be able to find out.

As a designer, I've found it's extremely useful to have access to the actual threads that I used on each project. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten calls or emails with queries about project threads; and in many cases, when threads have gotten discontinued, I'm asked to find substitute threads.

So, I've developed my own system to keep my projects organized with their respective threads: I make a Thread Card. I always make my Thread Cards at the end of the project, when all stitching is done. Just before I put all my threads back in their respective drawers, I cut and tape snippets of each thread to the card. It gives me a great sense of security to know that I have each project's thread palette in an easily accessible place, should I need to refer to it in the future.



Now, I must confess to you: my cards are rather a mess - not neatly scripted by any means. And I'd like to say that I have them neatly organized in a pretty binder..... but I don't. Rather, I keep them in a scruffy shoe box on a shelf. And let me tell you, I'm rummaging thru that box more times a week than I can count.... so they're definitely a functional tool that works for me.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this organizational idea with you, just in case you've run out of things to do and/or organize in your stitching life!

[Aside: In case you were curious: I found the blank/lined journals in the top photo at several discount places - Office Depot, Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx. Browse their book isles and you can sometimes find great journals to write in....]

It's All About Organization

As any stitcher knows, so much of stitching revolves around organizing. Organizing your threads; organizing your patterns; organizing your beads; organizing your unfinished projects; organizing your finished projects.... The list goes on and on.

I've followed with much interest fellow bloggers who, in their quest to find the perfect system, are constantly organizing their stitching projects as a way of managing their stitching life. I'm fascinated by their ongoing determination to organize their projects by designer, season, technique, size - or anything else you can think of.

I'm particularly intrigued by the "rotation" method: rotating through your stash of unfinished projects so you get a little bit done on each project in its turn. I also love the idea of stitching by season: working on the appropriate designs, season by season, or holiday by holiday. Gosh, I wish I were that efficient!

My own method seems to be: "What am I in the mood to stitch now?" Which works most of the time, but sometimes I get stuck in that uncomfortable dithery place, where I simply can't decide WHICH project I'm in the mood for. (It's like trying to drive a car while stuck in neutral -- you spin your wheels, but don't GO anywhere, and just end up getting totally frustrated.)

I should also mention that as a designer, I classify my projects into two groups: 1) the WORK group (my own designs), and 2) the FUN group (other designers' stuff). While I'm constantly yearning to stitch on the fun stuff, I always guilty about stitching on it, because I have so much "WORK" stuff to stitch. (Yeah, Yeah... It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.) And since I have constantly changing deadlines, I am constantly re-prioritizing my project list, somewhat like a card dealer constantly shuffling his card deck!

Anyway, back to the organization theme... I've decided to try a slightly different approach to managing my stitching projects (the WORK ones). I'm going to try using the "Tickler Tree" that I've made (see above photo). I had one of those card holder thingys.... which I never remember to put cards in, but is too cute to throw out. So the other day, INSPIRATION STRUCK. I thought, "Hey, what if I made tiny cards with my projects on them, and put them on the card holder?" That way, I can rearrange them by priority and best of all, see at a glance which projects I need to get finished first.

Brilliant! So now I've got my Tickler Tree sitting primly in my office, quietly reminding me of all the projects I have to WORK on..... Time will tell if it's a good idea, or just something else to organize.....