On a cold winter's night

It is unusually cold here tonight. We have a fire going and I am getting ready to get back to my hummers. I so want to finish that for 2012. I am down to the bottom edge of the design and have started doing the backstitching and fill in of missed stitches. I am pleased with how fast the backstitching is going. I think the end is in sight. This photo is only the bottom half. When I get some of the backstitching done I will add a new picture.  I ran out of 3 colors of thread but Dimensions was very prompt in sending me additional thread. One of the colors I used almost every bit they sent me so the kit was quite short of thread.  I will save up to get it framed for my sister's birthday mid-year. I am looking forward to picking something else up to stitch!

There are several designs on the WIP list that are not making any progress that would love to see some stitching time. I am still working on my organizing so I will be ready when the stitching time comes around. I still have a lot of work to do to get my stitching room in order. It just seems to multiply. I did find out this week at Thursday night stitch a resource to donate my quilt type fabric pieces to that I know I will never use. I don't mind giving it away if someone can use it. I am going to box that up and get it out first. That will free up quite a bit of closet space. There are also some old clothes that need to go to the donation bin as well. That will also open up some space. I have a couple of boxes of older designs that I no longer think I would use that I am going to donate to a local group that holds classes for kids to learn different sewing methods. I have a large rubbermaid box to go to the kids learning to stitch as well. I may take some to the little consignment shop and see if there is any interest. I have a large box of stash that a friend gave me to try to sell for her so I am going to inventory it and put it up for sale.I am going to add some stretcher bars of mine to the list and see if someone that loves them would like to have them. I use a different brand than I used to and the old ones are just taking up space. I can raise some money that way to fund the improvements I want to make.  If I just get all of that done I will have made a huge dent in organizing the area.
I spent a lot of time on the internet looking for ways to organize a stitching room that doesn't involve a large cash outlay. Mine really needs some help. I need to sort my fabric so I know what I have. I would like to be able to sort it by count and shades of color but not sure what to put it in to keep it in order.  am thinking of shallow drawers that I have seen before.  I am going to do an excel inventory for it and print it so I can look at a glance what I have so I don't order what I don't need.  I am trying to figure out the best way to organize my threads and patterns. The threads give me the biggest problem. I am going to get some boxes to organize the patterns in but my over-dyed threads need a better system.  I am not sure I want to go the baggie route but that may end up being the best I can do. Over-dyed ribbon is something else I would love to find a good way to organize.  My DMC are well organized in Thread Bed notebooks that fit nicely on the shelves. I found apps for the phone that will allow me to keep up with the thread inventory (and my Mill Hill beads) so I know what I need in each of the thread categories I use the most. My patterns will go by designers in boxes in the old wardrobe I have in the stitching room now. That way they will be behind closed doors but labeled so I can find the pattern by designer quickly.
I have a lot of project bags so I can get everything I want to work on organized with threads, fabric and pattern to make it easy to move between them as I move through the rotation. I have some nice plastic bags a friend gave me that work well for WIP storage as well.
So, I have done lots of looking, planning and drawing out the changes but not so much of the working on cleaning it up part. I have a couple of things I want to get to add to the usefulness of the room. I am making my list for the garage sale season though I think some of the items will come from Joann's. I want a counter high small ironing board for in there that will fit behind a door until I need it and some larger cutting boards. I am also looking for a table that I can put a cutting pad on that is high enough to use for comfortable cutting and probably to hold the ironing board as well.   My sewing room is a very small area so I have to be careful to leave room to sit and stitch. I have a good chair and an excellent light. So I have a wonderful start. Like my stitching I enjoy planning my space.
Off to get some stitching in. Hope you find some stitchy time in your day.