Mother's Day Silks and Update to Stash Room

This is what I received for Mother's Day from my darling hubby. Isn't it gorgeous? Its the full line (so far) of Belle Soie Silks, from Crescent Colors. Wasn't he just the most thoughtful of men? He knows I've been wanting these for a long time, since I first used them for LHN Prairie Sampler. Personally, I think they are the nicest silks on the market, and even one strand covers well.

Here is more of a close-up of the colors. I am so wanting to start a project with them right NOW, but I'll be patient and wait until I finish LHN Thread Gathering. I'm enjoying it and its starting to look really nice now. And when its done, I'll hang it up, over the door of my stash/guest room.

Now, on to the update to the cleaning of my stash room/guest room. I have to quantify that all the time because I sort of feel guilty having an entire room, albeit a small room, dedicated to stitching. I uploaded all the pictures in order, but somehow Blogger decided to rearrange them, so instead of trying to upload them all over again, I'll leave them as is, and hope you can manage to see the room as a whole. Okay, so the bed didn't get totally cleaned off. That bag you see at the end of the bed is full of fabric to make two blankets, and very hard to find a place for. I'm just going to have to get those blankets made up and given out, and get that out of the room. You can just see the circle of silks that I laid out, my Brave Hearts laid on the pillow for picture taking, and a few other things that need stowing away. You can also see my wall of Told in a Garden Bookmark stitchings. Am I showing my age yet? I think I did all but 2 of those.
This picture was to show the top of my big Ugly, where I store baskets, stuffing and quilt batt, and its the corner of the room opposite to the bed. This picture was taken from the doorway so you can see that the room is quite small.
This is the same green chest from the last picture--it stores all of my charts and leaflets. I've never found a really good use for this piece, until I noticed that the charts fit in perfectly. This is a handmade piece and I just love it. Would have rather it be a different color though.
This is that library desk that you couldn't see at all in my last post. You can see it a bit better now. My two sewing machines, magazines stored underneath, and a lone bag of fabric that I'm not sure what to do with yet. On the right is my rolling shelves for beads, and I haven't touched it yet. It needs to be better arranged so that things don't fall off so often, LOL.
This is my little ugly, it sits on the wall next to the door, and houses my kits. There's another picture, that should have been right after this one, showing how I've organized the inside. And that is my cheap-o stash room stereo, and right above that, is one of my old stitchings, one of the first I'd done.

Well, what do you know? They actually put the picture in the right spot. It looks messy, doesn't it? But on closer inspection, it really isn't. The top shelf has kits that come in those plastic envelopes and in front, my cord maker. The next shelf are smaller kits, and I have them arranged in three boxes and that green organizer is full of scissors. The next shelf are those kits that come in the hard plastic boxes, mostly silk gauze kits. Also, thats where I've stored the Sudberry pincushions, pretty porcelain boxes, thread keepers by Max Bloom, etc. Bottom shelf is pretty much the same, just different kits, along with my collection of amish quilt kits. Remember those?
And here is the inside of my lovely new china cabinet. I got the baskets at Kmart's also. The baskets hold my stitching fabric, and a basket underneath holds finishing fabrics. The top shelf has my perle cotton balls, and some specialty fibers. The drawers are holding my new silks, some Crescent Color cottons, and some of my newest pretties.
The bookcase in the back holds magazines, for the most part, the small basket, and the large basket hold Shepherd's Bush kits. The little drawers there beside the china cabinet hold specialty fabrics, like linen banding and such.
On top of the bookshelf of magazines is this lovely cabinet--its supposed to be a spice rack, no kidding--I got it at Target a long time ago, and it holds a myriad of things: beads, charms, silk embellishment kits for Drawn Thread kitlets, Just Nan embellishments, Victoria Sampler threads, charms for SB stockings, you name it, its probably in there.

Next post, the start of LHN Thread Gathering. Now, I'm off to have dinner and get in a bit of stitching before Hubby wakes up and starts emailing me. Darn Blackberry! As always, I welcome your comments, and any advise that will help me clean up this room even more.

Two finishes

I promised pictures of my recent finishes, Wool Needlebook and Fob. I've taken the pictures but have to confess, the needlebook has no button on it, and the fob has no cording or loop to attach to scissors. I have the perfect scissors to attach to it, just not sure I want to part with the Belle Soie for cording. I should have just stitched the pieces with the recommended threads but no, I had to do them in Belle Soie. I think it turned out well, the silk will hold up to use, but to waste all that lovely silk on cording? I cringe at the thought. Or put cotton floss as cording on it? I don't think so. Perhaps I could make just a top loop and not put the cording around the outside, and not make a pretty tassel--that would make it more rustic looking, right? Any ideas would be appreciated, fellow stitchers.

My second finish is one I am most proud of. Brave Hearts by LHN. This one was charted for Belle Soie and that is what I stitched it with. And its not my stitching that I'm proud of but who the stitching is meant for. My BIL George. This man I am so proud of, so proud that he is part of our family. Let me tell you a little about him.

George is married to my middle sister Patti. He served as a Marine for 16 years; in Beirut, in Quantico, all over the world. He's a home town hero, a soldier, a family man. Not long after retiring from the Marines, he had an accident at home--one of those dreaded accidents that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He went from standing tall to sitting in a chair all the time. A situation that would have devastated many a strong person just made him a stronger man. He is my hero. He works, he travels, he even danced Patti around the dance floor at the wedding of their eldest son, in his chair. Their love grows stronger every day, as they depend on each other, and on their GOD to sustain them. He didn't let a little thing like a wheelchair stop him. Brave Hearts is for him.

I'll save my stash room update for another day. Thanks for reading.

Messes, and more

I had planned an update to the SAL that Nicole and I were doing. Yes, I have finished the stitching and most of the finishing for the Wool Needle book and Fob--still have to find a button, and put cording around the fob. Went back to work on LHN's Brave Hearts and I've finished the wording, and started work on the sheep--but pictures will have to wait for another day. Just too much needs doing right now.

The ladies of our Yahoo group have been comparing stash "messes". You know, when you walk into the room where you store your stash, and can't find anything because you pulled something out (many, many times) and didn't put it back in the right place, and all around you are piles of wonderful fibers and linens, charts and kits just begging to be worked on--and you feel you need a guide dog to lead you out of the room--that's the kind of mess I mean. Here is mine.

This picture was taken standing out in the hallway and that green cabinet is in the middle of the room. I had to move things around a bit to get my new hutch in here. But, you can see the general disorder of the place. Isn't it pathetic?

And this is the bed--or can't you see the bed under the pile of general "stuff"? Yes, there is a bed under all of that.

OH, my, there are the pillows, and a peek at my new hutch. And see, more "stuff" in bags on the floor. This is a very tiny room, not even a closet to hide anything in.

This is my sewing table. It's a library desk, very old, but sturdy enough to hold my sewing machine and serger, which you can't see because that nine drawer mini chest is in the way. And is that a "little Mermaid" purse of my granddaughter's? Yes, indeed, and she's now 7 and way too old for it. So, why is it still in this room?

This is the foot of the bed. I finally got the cabinet moved up against the wall so I can walk in the room. I'm thinking the best idea for me is to take everything that is piled up all over, out of the room, stack it on the dining room table and go from there. I did that last week, and did get a lot of things put away, and organized, but then the weekend came rolling in, we needed the table to eat at, so hence, the mess on the bed again. ARGGGG!

I did get a small start on making my room look a bit better, and that was the hutch hubby bought me for storage. We found it on clearance at K Marts last weekend, DS1 helped me put it together and we got it put in here. I just love it. I can use a bit of the area on top for "show and tell" and the rest for fabrics, yarns, finishing fabrics, and all sorts of things. It's 6 feet of lovely and usable storage. Want to see a picture of it?

I think its gorgeous. Those two little drawers are perfect for holding new items, thread drops, new overdyes, small things that haven't found their own space. The two bottom doors are hiding a ton of yarn, but there is still half the space waiting to be filled. Still some space on top. Those baskets are holding linens, and see on the top shelf? There is my Little Traveler for taking my stitching on the road, a few pretties that were made for me, and my hand finishing box of supplies. On the very top of the cabinet is a basket of SB kits, that didn't fit into the huge basket I have for them. Guess I need to get stitching. Up there is also my other stitching bag, it's one of those messenger type bags, and holds a lot of supplies.

So, there you have it. I'll be cleaning and taking update pictures so as to encourage myself and others to get your stash organized. After this is done, it's on to my stitching area in the living room. And next time, I will have pictures and updates from the SAL and my Brave Hearts. Until then, Happy Stitching!