Organizing a Cross-Stitch Project

 Remember when big cross-stitch projects were all the rage? I know, it was decades ago. And at that time, I think floss was 20 cents a skein or even less. And I actually bought a set of over 350 skeins in some cross-stitch magazine (before the internet) for $18! It formed the base of my DMC collection, and I still work from it a lot.

But...*sigh*...the world of cross-stitch has changed for me and many others.

I don't really work on huge projects anymore, simply because one giant project could take a year or even more. And I have so many crafts I love to do. Cross-stitch is a form of yoga for me though, so I could never give it up. I just tend to do more quick, small projects. And afterall, how many giant cross-stitch framed pieces do you need? I make things now like pillows, cards, bookmarks, and banners with other media stitched and mixed in. That's what I like.

But this year, I found a dollhouse project I love. El Blog De DMC features one room a month, and she started in January. I think I could handle stitching one room a month, so with a great coupon because I can't stand to pay full price on floss now, I bought the 37 colors for the project. I already have the aida cloth I need, and I'm  ready to go.

I don't think I have the patience to sit and wind 37 skeins, and I don't feel like using the bag system, but the Stitchbow sysem is very easy. You just pop the whole skein right on there. I have a large Stitchbow bag--which is quite full right now--and then I have a smaller one which had plenty of space for the floss for this project.

 And since I was using a coupon on the whole purchase, I couldn't resist treating myself to my favorite gold needles! They slip in and out as you stitch so nicely. I wonder if Egyptian sewists had gold needles way back then?

The colors in this project are gorgeous. Each Stitchbow page in my mini bag fits five skeins on each side. I didn't have to buy any extra of those, yay! 

But I am jealous because now they have some really cute colors...I just have the original navy bags--but that's okay. Navy's good. I'm trying to use what I have this year...so it's bad enough I bought the floss without looking in my stash, right?
I have a good excuse. It was Mother's Day. This bag is small, so if I'm on the go with this project it will fit in a tote bag along with my aida cloth canvas and the room pattern I'm stitching. 

It's good to have projects!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch