2014 Accounting

Over the past five years I have been keeping track of how much I have spent on this obsession of mine:

2010:     $ 630.97

2011:     $ 981.26

2012:     $ 373.97

2013:     $ 779.79

The only reason 2012 was so low was that I did not go on a Stitcher's Hideaway that year.

And now for 2014:

Charts:                                      $   0.00

Fabric:                                      $  96.80

Fibers:                                      $131.24
Charms and Beads                   $  84.72

Tools & Accessories:        $  39.29

Classes ^ Retreats:                   $450.00

Subscriptions/Books:                $  25.98

Framing:                                   $     0.00

Memberships:                           $    0.00

Shipping/Handling Fees:            $   10.39

                                                 

TOTAL FOR 2014:               $738.49

Since 2010, I have been trying to stitch almost entirely from stash.  I already have so very much in the way of charts, linen, and fiber, I really haven't much need for new purchases.  For the most part I have managed to stitch using only what I have on hand.  Though, when the opportunity presented itself to buy heavily discounted fabric and silk fiber from Chris' Collection, I did indulge quite happily.  But I didn't buy any new charts in spite of the temptations.  One of the reasons the fiber, fabric and charms figures ae so high is that I ordered the full kit to make the pin cushion doll featured in SANQ.  The chatelaine charm for that doll alone was $50.00.

So my total expenditure for the past five years has been $3,504.48 which averages out to $700.89 a year.   When added together like that, the sum is impressive.  Even in these days of interest rates of a fraction of a percentage point, this money could have been earning for my retirement.

And as I come closer and closer to retirement, I may have to rethink the amount I spend, reducing it where possible.  I don't want to give up my annual Stitcher's Hideaway but I may want to consider the less expensive Alumni retreat which doesn't involve a teacher and a class project.  I certainly want to try my hand at framing my own pieces thus saving on the cost of professional framing.  I really don't need anymore books but would be reluctant to give up my subscription to SANQ.  I certainly need to start using my very extensive fiber and linen stash more effectively.  If I implement a few of these ideas, I may reduce the spending in 2015.  But it is hard to make budget cuts when dealing with an obsession!  It remains to be seen how well I will manage.  Que sera, sera!

I wonder how my expenditure compares with that of other stitchers.   If I am to judge by some of the blogs I read, I am somewhere in the middle.  Some of the blogs I follow mention classes and workshops on an almost monthly basis while other bloggers clearly can afford neither the time nor the money for such things.  Other bloggers frequently mention new stash purchases and still others write of expensive painted canvases and the fibers to complete them, any one of which would equal my total annual budget.  And yet other bloggers comb the thrift shops for their supplies and charts.  I know one blogger who stitched free charts [offered legitimately by the designers themselves] for an entire year.  She called it her year of freebies.  So there is a very broad range of investment in the needle arts.

2013 Stash Accounting

Every year since 2010, I have done an accounting of the money I have spent on stitching.  This year will be no different.

2013 Expenditures:

On Charts:    $  95.43 

On Fibers:    $ 174.44

On Fabrics:   $ 0.00

On Embellishments [Beads, buttons]:  $ 14.83

On Tools and Accessories:  $ 25.75

On Framing: $0.00

On Books, Magazines and Subscriptions:  $ 40.00

On Classes and Retreats:  $ 495  [Stitcher's Hideaway Mystic I]

Shipping/Handling/Insurance  $ 14.34

Memberships in stitching organizations: $ 60.00

Total   $  779.79

As in the past few years, my biggest expense has been the Stitcher's Hideaway, an annual treat that I would be loathe to give up.  For the most part I have been stitching from stash with a minimum of new purchases.  The amount spent on charts came as a surprise to me as I tallied it up.  One third of the amount [$31.47, to be precise] was spent by my husband who bought the charts as an anniversary gift but the rest is squarely on my head.  It's more than I have spent on charts in several years.  And I thought I was being so good.  Then I did splurge on some Glorianna silks.  I couldn't resist the 50% discount at Chris' Collection Closeout sale and spent $145.00 on the silks alone.  I wish Chris the best in her retirement.  

The figure of $779.79 divided by 365 days in a year works out to $2.13 a day.  Most people spend more than that on coffee or other minor vices,  So I don't feel all that guilty though I do think I shall try to be a bit more frugal in 2014.

Tuesday Tittle Tattle

S.A.B.L.E. or Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy

I have been going through the stash binder I optimistically call "Current Year's Projects".  Once upon a time I used to complete between 70-80 projects a year,  Admittedly most of them were small to medium sized samplers or seasonal pieces, the largest being no bigger than 8 inches x 8 inches, with maybe two or three BAPs of 14 inch x 14 inch or larger thrown in for good measure.  Granted, back in the day that I kept that pace up, I was working only three days a week, from 8:30am-2:30am, as an art teacher in a Catholic elementary school.  Now I put in 40+ hours as a CRE of a Parish Religious Education Program and am 18 years older.  But somehow I have maintained the illusion that I can keep up that pace.  The evidence is in a binder containing upwards of 30 largish pieces including five Dragon Dreams dragons, six Workbasket Quaker animals, six Halloween pieces, one large Primitive Needle sampler and six smaller Primitive Needle designs, a small Teresa Wentzler dragon, a Teresa Wentzler Christmas stocking and one Miribilia Faerie.  And that is in addition to the Class Projects and WIPs I have listed in my sidebar as wanting to complete this year.  The reality is it will probably take me three or four years to complete the pieces in the binder and in my current stitching bag.  And then there are all the other charts in binders and in the drawers of my stitching center.  I've never had the nerve to count them, but I expect they number somewhere between 75 and 125.    And I won't even consider all the magazines I have saved because they have such wonderful charts.  I haven't bought a single chart in over 8 months and don't expect to buy anything other than fabric and fiber and tools for the next few years.  I used to collect loads of freebies and I have been culling my stash of those as well, reducing three 2" binders to one.  I still expect to stitch every chart I own.  Retirement is only four years away with the promise of more leisure time.  I wonder if I will ever come to a point when I have just a few unstitched charts in my possession along with a few previously stitched charts that I can't quite give up.  In the past, I tended to give away most of the charts I have stitched: my theory being that it is a waste to tuck them away when someone else can be enjoying them.  But I am beginning to think it might be wiser to set up a sale album to fund the purchase of that fabric and fiber I will be needing to stitch the charts already in my possession.  That seems like a lot of work but I may give it a shot.


Mid-Year Evaluation of 2012 Goals

• 01. My Own Crazy Challenge: work on unfinished class pieces from 2005-date.  Well, of the nine class projects, some of which have multiple items, I have completed one and am well on my way to finishing a second.  The Victoria Sampler Holly and Heart Sampler and Ornament have been stitched and the Kogin Tea Cozy is about 2/3rds of the way done.  I hope to finish the tea cozy this month.  I don't really expect to finish all nine projects this year.  I expect this 2012 Class Project Challenge will be a 2013  Class Project Challenge as well.
• 02. Complete three BAPs: TW's Tracery Dragons, TW's Woodland Angel Stocking for Liam and Dimensions Woodland Maiden as a stocking for Piper.  The Tracery Dragon piece is done, awaiting a trip to the framer.  And the TW Woodland Angel Stocking has been kitted up and moved into the current stitching bag and will be my next start.
• 03. Limit new starts to one for every two UFO/WIPs completed.  Pretty much true, I have made three new starts, all smalls, since Jan. 1.   BUT of the 13 UFO/WIPs in my list, I have finished five and there were also the two-in-one finishes from the Class Projects list.  I am very close to finishing Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie: all the borders and bands are done and Blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4 are filled in.  I just need to fill in Blocks 5 & 6.
• 04. Stitch a few more Heart ornaments for the Anniversary-Valentine's Day tree.  Not a one.
• 05. Stitch one ornament a month from the 2006 Indy Town Square SAL. Not a one.
• 06. Limit stash purchases to fabric, fiber and tools needed to complete charts on hand.  So far so good.
• 07. Continue to blog regularly, aiming for every other day.  Well, May and June were something of a write off so far as blogging went.  My work load and low energy levels combined to sabotage that goal.  But otherwise, January - April went well and July seems to be picking up.  I am also learning how to use my new Samsung Pad [or droid] so that eventually, I'll be able to blog from anywhere I happen to be.
• 08. Make an effort to catch up on sewing and framing finishes.  The purchase of a new sewing machine [very high tech: computerized and electronic] has me at the beginning of a new learning curve.  I'll be taking a few classes over the summer but I have at least figured out the straight and zig-zag stitches.  It's a hoot having to use a stylus and a view screen to select the stitches and modify their size.   I need a stylus for my Samsung, too.  I guess I'd better get used to it.
• 09. Inventory and declutter existing stash.  Not yet.  That strikes me as a winter chore.
• 10. Attend an EGA chapter meeting as a member-at-large or take an on-line course.  Not yet.

Second Annual Stash Budget Accounting: 2011

Last year, prompted by all the talk on message boards and in blogs about how the current economy changed, and continues to change, the stitching industry, I decided to track my own spending.

Grand Total Spent in 2010: $630.97
Grand Total Spent in 2011: $981.26

… and now for the 2011 breakdown:

On Charts: $ 46.49
On Fibers: $284.33
On Fabrics: $ 54.00
On Embellishments [Beads, buttons]: $ 6.20
On Tools and Accessories: $ 36.24
On Framing: ---------
On Books, Magazines and Subscriptions: ---------
On Classes and Retreats: $450.00
EGA Membership: $ 60.00

And on the ever present shipping/handling: $ 44.06

Since I have continued to stitch primarily from stash, it is not surprising that my biggest expenditure has been on classes with floss, fiber, fabric and tools combining at $427.26 to make the next largest expenditure. As for the shipping and handling, with the exception of a few runs to Michael's or A.C. Moore for DMC, all my ordering has been done with out-of-state shops in Virginia, Utah and California. I regret that there is no LNS in my area.

I will be working primarily on old class projects and WIPs and UFOs in 2012. As a result, I expect spending to shift from materials to finishing. Framing will be my big expense in 2012. And since framing is so very expensive, I may have to skip my usual Stitcher's Hideaway this year. I had hoped to do The Alumni Retreat this year but I think I may wait a bit and see how things go. I can always do the October Mystic Hideaway if the finances are all rosy. I am sure I have missed a few expenditures here and there but, for the most part, this is a pretty fair estimation of spending this year. Now, if the fates would just cooperate and send someone to open up a brick and mortar LNS within a reasonable distance, I could save $50 a year on shipping and handling charges ... or am I being too selfish ... I don't know, major small business investment vs my personal convenience ... Nah!!!!

My First Annual Stash Budget Accounting

With all the talk on message boards and in blogs about how the current economy is changing the stitching industry, I thought it would be interesting to track my own spending this year.

Grand Total Spent in 2010: $630.97

and now for the breakdown:

On Charts: $ 40.67

On Fibers: 283.20

On Fabrics: 139.47

On Embellishments [Beads, buttons]: 6.50

On Tools and Accessories: ------

On Framing: ------

On Books, Magazines and Subscriptions: 49.65

On Classes and Retreats: 60.00

EGA Membership 32.25

And on th ever present shipping/handling 19.23

Since I have been stitching primarily from stash, it is not surprising that my biggest expenditure has been for floss and fiber to stitch up charts already in my possession. And the only reason the fabric line is so high is that there were a number of series I worked on this past year for which I wanted to use the same fabric [e.g.: the raw linen in 28ct for the Bride's Tree SAL, and blue overdyed linens in 28ct for the Town Square SAL]. I don't expect to spend as much on fabric in 2011 since I have a fairly large and varied fabric stash accumulated from my two year subscription to Silkweaver Fabric of the Month. I will be working on very diverse projects in 2011 instead of intentional sets, so I won't be buying as much "matching" fabric in the coming year.

I am sure I have missed a few expenditures here and there. One thing I didn't include because it is not a direct stitching expense was all the money spent on postage for exchanges, round robins and giveaways ... but I am guessing that was in the neighborhood of $200 or above. And I never seem to save the receipts for those quick runs to Michael's or AC Moore for some last minute DMC. I shall be more careful as I keep track of my expenditures in 2011 as well to see how it compares with 2010. I have a sense that, while 2009 was probably much the same as 2010, I am spending considerably less on this craft than I did 5 years ago or 10 years ago. That would be particularly true in the areas of framing and chart and fabric purchases. Back in those days, I would frequently have as many as 12-15 pieces professionally framed each year at an average cost of $250 a piece ... raising the expenditure totals considerably. I didn't have anything professionally framed in 2010 as opposed to a mere five pieces professionally framed in 2009. Of course, I did a lot more gift-stitching back in the day and a lot more sampler stitching as well ... things that call for framing. For the past two years, I have been stitching predominantly from stash, purchasing far fewer charts and doing a lot more sewing finishes as opposed to framing finishes. But as I look forward to the pieces I plan to stitch in 2011, I see framing becoming a big part of the budget next year.