I had so much fun reading Jennifer's posts about stash organization, that I thought I'd show my method (and madness).

Today I'm just going to show my stash software and later some pics of my actual stuff. I started off with a paper journal to keep track of stuff, then downloaded a couple of the stash software freeware or trials that were online. I didn't really like any of them...I wanted both a "pretty" interface and some more powerful search options. So I built my own in Access. I've been working in Access for years & was learning Visual Basic at the time, so here's what I came up with:

The main screen (the upper left window) has the places I enter stuff on the left (Charts, Fibers, etc.) and the right side has some reports I've built. So when I buy a new chart, I click the "Chart" button and add info (the lower window shows the entry for Cirque) such as the stitch count. If it uses specialty threads, I'll also click the "add fibers" button & mark them as "needed".

When I click the "Search for Fabric" button, it will look at the stitch count, whether it's over 1 or 2, and the margin I entered, and see what fabric in my stash is large enough. So for "Cirque" I have 17 pieces in my stash that could work. I can scroll through the records to see what colors/counts they are. Cirque is medium sized, so it fits a few more fabrics; when I search on a bigger project, I may only have 1 or 2 choices.

When I'm ready to start a project, I hit the "Start Project" button on the Chart window & it pulls up and pre-populates the "Project" sheet you see here, including start date. I outfitted it with a super-dork option of tracking time, but I never really use it. I can attach progress pictures like this one for Marriage of the Minds.

Last picture, I promise!

I built a few reports, like one that will tell me which projects I have all the threads/fabric for, but the one I use most often is the shopping list. When I mark threads or beads that I need on the "Chart" sheet, it matches it against what I have. If it's missing, it goes to the shopping list.

One of the software pieces I tried just had "Need" list, but I couldn't tell whether it was for something I was dying to start, or something that was sitting in my stash for years. I like this one because it's organized by chart, so I can get what I need for one project.

So that's how I keep track of stuff. And I do admit that this thing is a little overboard - but I've been able to apply the things I learned while making this to other real-work projects. Since I like how it's laid out I do a better job of keeping up with it. I try to enter new purchases before putting them away, but not as good at removing things that I've used. I'd be happy to share, but I'd have to warn you that there are some quirky things since I'm not a professional programmer and it's a work in progress!

Yesterday Drew was out of town visiting family, so Abby and I decided to do some things together. Abby voted we go to the doggie park, and I voted that we go to the stitching store. Although I get to drive, and thus have final decisions about where we go, Abby whimpers more, so we went to the dog park first. It was a beautiful day with the colors changing, and we had a fun couple laps around the pond (complete with squaking geese taunting Abby from the middle of the pond).


Then we got to go to the stitching store, which I'd never been to before. It's Welcome Stitchery in Crystal Lake, IL, about 40 minutes' drive from home. They are a very well stocked store and the people there were really nice. They helped me pick out some pretty fabric and fibers for Cirque des Cercles. I chose a 32ct R&R linen called "Weathered Barn" and some Caron Waterlilies threads in Monsoon. The soft blue/grey fabric picks up the blues in the silks really nicely.
On the way home, Abby seemed thirsty, so I poured water into the cup holder for her; it's solid & removable, so that seemed like a brilliant idea until, from force of habit, I dropped my cell phone in there a few minutes later. Apparently, cell phones don't like water. Any time I put the battery in and turned it on, it went into permanent vibrating death throes until I took the battery out again. It's made a miraculous recovery after drying out overnight!

So the really cool thing is that I finished Drawn Thread's Marriage of the Minds. I love it - I'm so happy with how it turned out; the fabric, the threads, I just love how it all looks together. The Latin phrase below our names means "love conquers all". Now we just need the date! The picture below looks a little wonky, taken at an angle:
So today I started on the new Cirque des Cercles project, now that I have threads & fabric. Not much so far; I'm hoping that there's enough variation in the threads for it to be visually interesting. That's always the challenge when changing materials!