It all started with a sale at AC Moore on boxes.
Who can resist bright colorful empty boxes??
Organizing my Works In Progress has been on my to-do list. For a year. Maybe two. Maybe forever. But when I had extra time, I wanted to stitch not organize things.
Besides, it’s only recently that I have had several WIPs at any one time. I’d focus on one project until it was done. If a special occasion came up I might set it aside to meet a deadline but that didn’t happen very often.
Don’t read this as any kind of comment about how many projects anyone should have at any one time. You don’t need my approval and I’m sure not handing out any disapproval. If I had my way, Needlework would be called Needle Pleasure. But then it would sound like an illegal drug problem. I digress.
Those ziploc bags are so darn convenient. It’s what most of us use. They’re cheap. They’re clear. They keep our projects safe from wayward spills. BUT. But I have heard one too many sad, sad stories about needlework projects being thrown out with the trash because to someone it looked like trash. So I have decided not to use them anymore.
Besides, I want something pretty!
And then I saw that AC Moore had a sale. Five boxes for $10. Whoowhee. And they’re the shoe-box size ones.
Five boxes. Five bright colors. Heaven!
I was inspired by spring’s arrival. In the range of bright colors, they had five that I liked. A very nice, very tall young man got them off the top shelf for me since the lower shelves had been ravished earlier.
Each project gets a box for the chart, fabric, fibers, and embellishments.
Let the organizing begin. I cut a whole bunch of blank cards to fit in the slot thingy. I made more than I needed so I could tuck extras into each box. See, I know myself. And I know when I finished a project and started a new one I would not be bothered to cut a new card. That little slot thingy is what makes this whole system work for me. A clear plastic bag was only needed so I could identify what was in each one. Now the boxes are labeled. No plastic needed.
Currently, I’m preparing for a few teaching gigs so I really need to stay on top of deadlines. My almost finished sampler for the first Stitcher’s Escapes cruise went into one box. Another box holds just the floss and some sketches. No matter what stage a project is in, it’s better off in a labeled box than anywhere else!
Onto a shelf they go. Now I just take one with me to my favorite stitching spot and when I have finished for the day, everything is packed back into it’s own pretty box. When I want to take a project with me, I have another system but that’s for another post!
I welcome comments but find it’s easiest and safest to read them on my Facebook page, Jean Farish Needleworks.
When you’re not stitching or reading blogs, come shop at my Etsy shop!