Two Winners and 0ops I found some UFO's.

Lets start off by announcing the winners of my two give aways and then I'll tell you about oops...

The winner of the batik FQ from the Grow your blog hop is number 1 Lynne from Australia.

The winner of my Dresden pillow from the Dare to Dresden blog hop is number 25 Britt-Inger from Sweden. I have emailed both for their postal address.

When I started this blog back in April of last year I told you that due to work and family commitments I hadn't had any time for quilting or any other needlecraft for several years. The other thing I hadn't made time for was clearing out cupboards and drawers. As a result it was becoming very difficult to find room for any new items. So this weekend I started the big declutter and organised myself to reduce, reuse and recycle. I decided to start with my bedroom as I want to get on with the decorating and it would help considerably if everything had a home. I have a fair amount of cupboard space above the wardrobes, a blanket chest and under bed storage so quite a bit to sort through. I started with my fabric store in the chest and under bed storage. That was fun. I spent quite a bit of time stroking the fabric and planning new projects but I also sorted so that the 100% cottons were together and the wools somewhere else. Also sorted the cottons by prints and colours. Now I know where everything is.

So far no unexpected surprises. That was until I opened a large plastic box. When Richard was born we were given the box stocked with lots of baby products and I used it as storage for baby items when all three of them were small. Once past that stage I used it for various things and several years ago put all my embroidery into it. Unfortunately over the years I had forgotten it was there and the projects lay hoping to be rediscovered. Hence my oops as it turns out I have rather a lot of stitching UFO's

You can see how long the UFO's have been left by the creases in the fabric and the yellowing of the paper. This one is called Springtime sampler and is done in crewel embroidery.

Next is the Calendar bears. I have started the June bride bear but even she isn't finished. This like a lot of the others is counted cross stitch.

Christmas Tree, another one started, but only a very little bit of the tree finished.

The next one isn't started at all. I bought this for my older daughter whilst she was still at school. She never opened it and it found its way into my store. I think I may choose this one to start on as it is such a cute cat.

This one uses a range of different stitches but again I've barely started it.

This is the pattern for Hardanger table mats and I have started the first one of the set. I love hardanger embroidery so I'm excited to get back to stitching this one.

There were also two bear cross stitch pieces. This one is almost complete but unfortunately you can see that there is a stain on it near his right foot where I left the needle in the fabric. I obviously never meant to leave it for so long as I generally put the needle in a needle safe if I am putting the stitching to one side for more than half an hour. It's not a problem as I can slightly alter the pattern to cover up the stain.

The second bear isn't one I started but you can see there is masses to do.

This one I haven't started . It makes up as a small framed picture or for a card. I bought it in the October and was going to make it for my parents 56 wedding anniversary the following year but unfortunately my mom died that Christmas eve. When I finish this it is going on my bedroom wall  to celebrate our great marriage and that of my parents.

There were also some small kits that the girls had started and I said I would finish but haven't yet.

Richard had been making the blue tit cross stitch but got bored. I think I'd better give this a wash before I start

There were also a lot of kits that came free on cross stitch magazines. A friend gave me these several years ago.Some are cards, some fridge magnets and some key rings.

So you can see why I said oops. I have masses of UFO's and I still haven't finished my millennium sampler. It's a shame I didn't find these back in the autumn as I like stitching while watching TV in the evening. I could have done quite a bit of work on some of these.

I'm off to decide which of my projects to work on this month for a lovely year of finishes and the year of the finished project. With all this sorting and organising I haven't done any sewing today but I do have more room in the cupboards and I now know what is in them. My next de cluttering task is to go through my wardrobe and drawers and sort out all my clothes. I know there are several items I never wear so I need to recycle them and there are some things I want to remodel.

Happy sewing.