Value of your stash

go for it. And yes you will scare yourself.

Would you like me to send you a copy of how I set up my threads database. (May more the Mill Hill list in there - they count as colors for certain project)

Cheryl

Take pics - but remember to store the pics away from home - on a CD/DVD or something. Insurance companies seem much happier when it is all shown in glorious technicolour.

However when you decide to specialise, Schedule A or something they call it, although it is relatively cheap and is replaced no questions asked, a friend explained to me that since I was careful with my cameras I was best off to back myself on that because the history it starts on you if you make a Schedule A claim is alarming.

Please, and thank you. That would be great. At one time I did start to set this sort of thing up on Access, but I find for my purposes, Excel is easier to work with.

BTW, next time you are on Facebook, I put up a photo album of some of my needlework. I need to do a second one as well.

MargW

Good ideas. I've done some of that. I have an Access file listing most the pieces I've done (going back to some needlepoint I did in the mid-70s). I've also take a lot of photos and some of these are on RCTNP and Facebook. I also have non-digital photos of some of my things which I need to rephotograph so I can add them to my digital albums. And I now have a Cd/DVD burner in my computer so I can actually download stuff.

I'd be most upset if I lost the finished and framed pieces. Everything else if pretty much replaceable.

MargW

Oh, you will, you WILL!

Particularly if you`re in the UK!!!

Just the ordinary Anchor and DMC mount up if you have the whole range, plus, as I do, several of the ones you use most (say 1000 skeins averaging 60p at least each!) and that`s before you`ve even STARTED on the fabrics, stands, stretcher bars/hoops etc.

Pat

Well, to add to stash we had a "city", I call it village, wide yard sale today. Some items were fundraisers, and I had knitted dishcloths and baked cookies for that one. The rest were basically "cleaning out stuff".

The last one we stopped at , not even a quarter of the way through, but we were tired, had a BIG DEEP cardboard box. There were two young ladies selling, and an older lady, with a longhaired dachshund on her lap. Nothing piqued my interest until I looked in the box. Bags of DMC floss...in the floss-bags, all numbered. I asked the young woman what she wanted for them, so she said "make an offer". I looked, doing math in my head, and she came back with a plastic grocery bag, and said $1 a bag. WE filled it full; many are brand new, Apparently Grandma was a stitcher before her illness. I COULDN'T in good conscience pay $1...so gave the older lady $10.00. The girls were amazed that there was any value in this junk.

I made out. Grandma made out....all I have to do is get rid of the slight tobacco smell. Probably get rid of the bags will do it.

A good day!

Gillian

Open bowls of baking soda will work if dumping the bags doesn't help

I know what is meant about the DMC and Anchor ranges, I do have all of the ordinary DMC floss with my stash averaging 9 skeins for each colour. Then I also have the variegated and metallic flosses and most of the rest other floss types for cross stitching, around here the price ranges between 49-59 cents for the standard floss types, and up to $1.50 each for the more costly floss types.

Since I prefer DMC floss over Anchor, my selection in not as complete for Anchor of which I might have around 50-65 floss skeins. Here Wal-Mart, was the only place that carried any good selection of Anchor but since they stopped carrying major floss lines. We have a Michael's here where I get my supplies.

I have bought every thing for other supplies; such as scissors, needles, and scroll bars. To this I have a average size of a library of books and charts, at last count I had near 300 charts and 40 books, not including the binders of printouts of downloaded charts.

Atta girl ! Go to the yard sale to get rid of stuff and come back with more lol

I wish I was that lucky and found such a great buy. The best I ever did was to find a few skeins of DMC Perle, but that was a long time ago.

Now there's a suggestion that Michaels is in more trouble then I have been suspecting. If they go under I will have apoplexy. Lucille

So I'm working on my Excel lists. (Thanks, Cheryl for your lists, they are helping me decide how to organize, and what to list.)

Today, I was doing my Caron threads, including the overdyed silks. Several years ago, Wyndham Needleworks had a special sale where they sent you bag of random threads - partial skeins and leftovers of silks, wools, linens and other flosses. These were great, but were not numbered or identified. I have 46!@!!!#@#@ silks, linens (and one fibre which I think is sisal) which I have no idea of how to list. Some of them I can sort of figure out (Silk & Colors 'Grannie Smith' for instance, and another one which looks like "Blueberry'), but the rest while gorgeous are simply anonymous!

Folks, if you even have a small stash, I strongly recommend that you start listing stuff now before it becomes a monster.

MargW (the silk ribbon and needlepoint silks are next)

That's what "odds" is for! LOL

But - at the very least - I'd list, silk, # of strands and color description.....

I don't say I'd blame you. No AC Moores?

No, but they are moving JoAnn's closer to where I live. They're consolidating by closing two stores and opening one very big store. They aren't great, but at least they have a very good selection of scissors and sewing supplies and a minimum of DMC products. At least that's what they had in the other two stores. The new one will open soon and I'm hoping that perhaps they will be a little better stocked, but I doubt it.

Lucille

I'm up to a good 15 sheets in excel just for all types of floss and beads (one sheet per manufacturer), and I have seperate worksheets for fabrics and charts. My stash got to the point several years ago to where I could NOT remember what I did or did not have - thus when I went to shows, I'd be buying duplicates, etc. Now, I print out everything in a 'book' and take that so at least I'll have a chance at avoiding duplicates.... 'cause I'll never stop buying! I pity whichever relative has to deal with my stash when I'm gone ;)

Thank God, I'm not the only one! The Excel workbook is now at 12 sheets, and I'm going to break down some of the categories onto separate pages that I have lumped together right now.

I finished the book list last night (57 books ranging from small self-published thread guides to a massive two-volume history of needlework).

MargW

Enjoying yourself dear - did you have fun reading my lists?

I did indeed. Our tastes are very similar. You and I have a lot of overlap in our books, but I think you've got me beat on quantity of patterns (although I may change my mind when I actually start listing)

MargW

And Marg, if you can think of some better way to organize those patterns than that huge "bulk" list, let me know

PLEASE