I think no matter what your hobby is you end up with some kind of “stash” of supplies. Maybe crafters are just secretly hoarders in disguise. I’m sure you can relate here!
In every other aspect of my life I am ready and willing to *throw it out* and not have all sorts of extra stuff and clutter, I don’t like knick-knack type things, and will not find a ticking clock anywhere in my house. But when it comes to my cross stitch supplies, more is never enough.
Of course when compared to many other stitchers my stash is actually quite modest. I have a file box of charts and a small cabinet full of fabric and stitching goodies. I don’t keep a full set of DMC floss, I don’t have hundreds of magazines stashed away, but despite my slow stitching and lack of time lately I do quite a bit of stash shopping frequently. (Shh, don’t tell my husband I admitted that. I don’t complain his weekly comic book purchase if he doesn’t complain about my cross stitch chart buying, that’s the deal!)
So what drives us to stock up on charts most likely will never get to stitch? I know I certainly have more than enough here to last me a lifetime of stitching already, but here I sit right now with a full shopping cart online and debating on whether or not I should click the “checkout” button or not.
Do you have any stash confessions to share? I pinky promise not to tell your family 😉 Leave a comment below and tell us about it!
Happy Stitching!
Oh! I have an agreement with my husband as well about I get to have a stash of all my stitching and crafting supplies and he gets to stock up on his hobbies. We even have a set monthly budget that we can spend without having to discuss it with one another kinda like an allowance. I have magazines, floss, fabrics, charts, kits….you name it! It’s all organized and put away, but it’s more than one person would need in a lifetime. At this point, I’m hoping that I’ve collected enough to keep all three of my daughters from having to ever make a purchase, and that’s only IF they decide to start stitching. I don’t know where this compulsion to purchase supplies that I love and have not used, but if I like it, I buy it.
Love this, Kasey! I dunno, what is it about buying supplies? I spend more time buying supplies and reading Facebook stitching sites than stitching! I have tons of books I bought when I was single (so no one to answer to then!) and after I got married for the second time 12 yrs ago I just tell my husband whenever he comments that it’s a ‘collection’! Well between all my books, kits, supplies I could start a needlework store in my living room, lol! When I buy a book I write on a post-it note the item I bought the book for–to cross-stitch or embroider–and stick it on the cover so when I go back to it months later I won’t forget!
Plus my husband has his hobbies he spends money on–golf, fishing, his guitar and banjo tools! So if he says anything I remind him of that, ha!
OK, I cannot tell a lie. I have so much stash I have it organized in an Excel spreadsheet so I don’t buy duplicate patterns or threads! Yes I know how much fabric I have and how many different picture frames.
So glad you are not gonna tell my hubby!!!
well- I have bought in the past, and lost all my belongings, had to start over-(several times)….lost magazines I had saved , kits, threads, needles fabric….so am trying to stash again….just went to Jo-Ann’s and bought a lot of stash….but since I am now dis-abaled—people understand why I need these things at home to keep me busy…..along with my yarn and hooks…I am on a budget….so not sure when I will get to fill my stash up on my scrapbooking,I am divorced, so do not have to answer to anyone—just me…have to travel to buy magazines, but you won’t hear me complain—-I have lots of projects started, not to finish them—
Ah! So good to know I’m not alone with my crazy amount of stash! Thankfully, my husband is an avid video gamer, so he spends his ‘share’ on games and related items, and I spend my ‘share’ on my cross stitch.
I have managed, over the years, to get him somewhat interested in cross stitch, so he now has his own stash (mostly classic car, superhero, and wild animal patterns). This means we have graduated to 2 multi-drawer Rubbermaid chests full…FULL…of fabric, patterns, threads, beads, and more notions than we could ever reasonably use.
But, if even one tiny thing ever turned up missing, I could tell you exactly what was gone, where it was stored, where I bought it, and what I had planned (someday) to use it for, LOL!!!
I have a small 2 drawer filing cabinet, 4 3-ring binders and lots of loose patterns. I have almost all the DMC threads plus some other brands and blending filiments. Patterns are definitely my downfall though, although I am always on the lookout for new materials and needles. I like to find antique patterns to revive but I know if I live to be 200 I will never get to all those patterns! LOL 🙂
We could form a little support group for our stash addictions here!
I’m loving the comments on this post ~ especially the discussion of hobby budgets!
Wow, thought I was the only one with an ever growing stash! I think I went “hog wild” some years back when I discovered you could actually buy what you wanted on line instead of buying something from a store that really didn’t thrill me but I loved to cross stitch so bought it! So not only do I have a huge stash of purchased kits, but then there’s eBay and all the other sites to keep my addiction going, a lot of them downloadable so how’s that for a fast fix!! omg, so many patterns, so little time lol! HOWEVER…I discovered you really have to watch eBay (and probably other sites as well) as there are so many people out there selling “knock offs” of good patterns, and most times you won’t realize it until you go to stitch the pattern. You will end up with this horrible fuzzy mess. These patterns are done from really bad el-cheapo software, they get their subject matter from probably Google Images, turn it into a bad pattern and sell them on eBay from a couple dollars and up. So I always watch descriptions and only try to buy from reputable sellers, even tho a 100% feedback rating sometimes only means that they got the stuff in a timely manner, and have yet to see the bad finished product, otherwise am sure that feedback would change. Recently I bit the bullet and purchased some professional software for mega bucks in order to make my own patterns. I will no doubt make up for the cost of the software by creating my own patterns instead of buying, and I have paid upwards of 50.00 for a single pattern of professional quality in the past! Live and learn I guess. But my eBay wake-up call really opened my eyes (no pun intended). Never thought there were cross stitch scammers out there, but please beware. I feel everyone should have a great quality stash, even though if you’re like me you may never get them all done in a lifetime! But retirement isn’t that far away and this will definitely keep me busy. Happy stitching everyone!
Well, I have a whole room dedicated to the craft now. My son built a huge hutch, a display case desk and a closet with drawers and shelves. It is all in my room. I decided to do an inventory of my stash. I am not done and the number is well over 1300 items. There, I said it, I am addicted!! LOL. I hope to finish the inventory. Will I maintain it? I don’t know. Will the thought of having to add it to the already too long list, slow me down? I don’t know.
My secret stash obession is designs!! I have a hard time resisting them!! Kits aren’t a problem as I don’t like kits -they never give enough floss, DMC is the only one I use and the directions stink!! I don’t have a husband to control my budget but my budget is so tight, it controls itself. And, if I buy them, I know precisely where they’re going to be stored: in an overnight bag, with the rest of my favorite designs. My latest obession is Mystic Stitch!! Their designs are so exquisite!!!
I love my stash. My husband does not understand my stash, but he has learned to accept my stash.
I have 10 1-inch 3 ring binders with patterns divided by designer. I also put them all in an excel spreadsheet, because I did by a couple of duplicate charts. I have every cross stitch magazine I can get my hands on with the pages marked for the projects that I want to do ‘someday’ 🙂 I stopped buying charts about 2 years ago because of budget constraints, it turns out it allowed my to fill in my floss and fabric stashes (I’m not sure if that really helped)
I love to stitch and hope that someday I will stitch at least half of what I have purchased over the years.