January Stitch From Stash 2015

It is time for my very first ever Stitch from Stash Report!

Month: January

Spent: $13.58

Earned: $0

Carryover into Next Month: $11.42

What did I buy? Well, on January 3, 2015, a cross stitch kit that I had been eyeing for a while went on sale for 75% off. 

I honestly have no intentions of starting this anytime soon, so it is truly a stash item. 

Now a few thoughts about New Years Resolutions. Every year for a while I've made a huge long list of goals and resolutions for the new year and like probably everybody else, I fail miserably and end up giving up. My goals are too lofty. 

So this year, I kept it simple: Create Better Habits. I will choose a habit I want to change and slowly work on it.

Habit #1 was "Drink More Water." I started this about halfway through December and am happy to say that its coming along quite well. I'm drinking a couple liters a day or more. I soon got tired of toting 3-4 water bottles to work every day and picked up a couple Brita bottles with filters. Results on those are mixed: they are supposed to last through 300 bottles of water (or twelve cases of bottled water) before you have to change the filter but my first filter broke after about 20 bottles (about one case of bottled water).

 The little thin plastic ring that holds it in the bottle snapped. The goal is to save money and be a little more environmentally conscious, so I'm tracking how many times I fill my bottle on a little calendar. This also allows me to know when to change the filter. Thus far, I've spent about $25 on bottles and filters and only saved somewhere around $4, so I've a long way to go before this is a break even proposition. However, I like these better than the Bobble brand bottles. The plastic is softer and it is easier to pull the water through the filter.

Habit #2 was "Stop Drinking Pop." Oh boy do I love my sugar but really, this had to go. This one took effect the Saturday after New Years. Now I'm certainly still eating a fair amount of sugar but that is a habit to change some other month. I've been very good for the last couple of weeks. I allow myself a cheat day on Saturdays if I want a pop and have not cheated on any other day. And to be honest, last Saturday I had a Pepsi with lunch and didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. 

Habit #3 is "Change my Crafty Spending Habits" which brings us back around to Stitch from Stash. Now that I have a predefined spending limit, it really makes me question every impulse to buy. And the facts are plain and simple: I really don't need more stacks of fat quarters or cross stitch patterns. At least not until I use up some of the ones I have. So for cross stitching, I'm sticking to the Stitch from Stash rules outlined here: SFS2015A@ Epic Stitching. And for quilting, I duplicated the rules & budget, more or less, with the exceptions of things I need to use my stash. Examples would be background or backing fabric and batting, which are things I do not typically keep in excess. Spray glue is another, without which my quilts would never get completed. Please note that the official SFS2015 only includes needlework projects.

My Quilting Stitch from Stash ( for personal record only) for January 2015 is:

Spent: $12.99

Earned: $0 (No completed projects)

Carryover into Next Month: $12.01

I will be allowing myself an additional $5 reward budget for every quilt completed from stash.

I picked up a book to help me get creative with my stash and some stabilizer for my AoTH quilt blocks. 

Just for kicks, I'm also tracking how much I spend on non-stash items, like stabilizer and spray glue. Its good to know where you start. 

And because this post has been rather text heavy and needs a picture to spice things up, here is a sneak peek of the borders I'm working on for the Baby Quilt, which is so far 100% from stash!