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31 October 2011

Trick or Treat?

I am sure most of my Northeast friends know this already, but we had snow this weekend here in Crazyville. Not as much as they had originally called for, but enough to mess up plans and keep me inside. It was snowing when I got up on Saturday morning, and probably snowed til 8 that night. My mom, down-county, got nothing. Zippy. It just rained.

But I'm not going to complain. It was nice to spend the day, going through my sewing room, putting things away. I organized the huge stack of books in the corner, which fell over the day we left for vacation and that I just couldn't deal with restacking. I started going through my WIPs so I can participate in WIPocalaypse. I think I found about 6 I really want to work on, at least on the initial pass through.

I also took a good long look at my stash and thought again to myself that it really is a distinct shame that I continue to acquire stuff and do not take the time to work on things I already have. I mean, I love it all, or I wouldn't have bought it. But is owning it REALLY appreciating it and being a good steward of it? Particularly when I have a lot of money tied up in it and there are people who go to bed hungry for lack of money? I fight this battle in my head a lot of times, now more than ever. And, even take the greater socialism out of the equation, what are the opportunity costs to myself of acquiring and never actually completing? I tend not to think too hard on that one--it would probably only upset me.

So . . . I've decided that, for 2012, other than my WIP charts, and another project, I'm stitching from stash. And kitting from stash as much as possible. And by "other than", I mean I'm only going to buy specialty items when ABSOLUTELY necessary. The point is to stay out of the stores and use what I have.I've been thinking about it for a while, but this weekend put the exclamation point on the need to do it. I think, when I'm not having a small panic attack about it, that it will be a good exercise for me, in creativity as well as being a bit more appreciative of the blessings I have been given.

Now I'm not stupid enough to believe I'll make a huge dent in my stash by doing this. That isn't really the intention. But I think that it will help me in refocusing and highlighting what purchases are REALLY important to me, versus which just make me feel good.

So, bear with me. I might be a bit neurotic for the next few months. But I'm hoping to be a better person on the other side of it.

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Good luck on your decision to not keep aquiring too much stash! I have pared down my buying to only things I absolutely love...which is hard to do with so many great designs out there. If only I could stitch 24 hours a day I might get through half of my stash in my lifetime! lol

riona said...

Our snowfall started at about 10am Saturday morning and went on into the wee small hours of Sunday morning. The snow was so heavy and wet that the mini-deck on the neighboring townhouse came loose from its moorings on one side and is hanging at a crazy angle from the second story. Happily, we removed our mini deck years ago, putting a bay window where the sliding doors used to be. The one good thing about the early snow was that I did get more stitching than usual done ... check out my blog to see some ornament finishes and some WIP progress.

Pumpkin said...

I heard that you had snow! We got rain...and lots of it :oS

I have to give up my craft room and I've been going through all my stash. HOLY COW! When did I acquire a mini NS???? I can completely understand what you mean ;o)

Jenny said...

Hi Rachel - I totally get what you mean about the stash-buildup... I think that last year, or maybe the year before, it was myone and only New Year's resolution not to get more stash (with a few loop-holes - like it was all right if I took a class, or getting limited edition stuff, or getting floss etc, if I would run out...). I did well for about 4 months and then I fell right back into it. I'll try this year again - thinks for reminding me!
From now on, if I really want something, I should get into my stash and root around for a while - seeing that it cojntains a lot of stuff that I used to "really want"... LOL

DH told me yesterday that he would make a deal with me; if I finish 10 kits/projects, I get to buy 5 new ones. Not too bad huh!? You could do something similar - finish 10 and get 1 new as a reward? I think that'll be my new carrot - "The 10-to-1 Rule"!

Shelleen said...

Rachel, I am with you on the stash build up. I have a personal challenge that I can NOT buy anymore patterns til I have all my UFOs and WIPs finished first. The only ones I can buy are the JCS Halloween and Christmas ornament issue. No more RRs and trying not to do exchanges either. I can have new starts but they have to be what is in my stash already. I think we can meet our challenges.

Pumpkin said...

HA! I hear ya! I should take a picture of what my stash has been organized into. I can't believe how my room held so much stuff :-O

I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped--Frederick Perls