In this episode, I share day three of the Summer Stitching Challenge. You can listen to the episode below or keep scrolling to read the blog post.
Listen to the episode
Day 3 Dedicate space
This can mean two things; dedicate space in your day for cross stitch or literally dedicate space in your home. We’re talking the latter today and figuring out where you will cross stitch this summer.
You can keep it quite simple and just have one space that you go to every time you stitch. This works well if you tend to stitch at the same time, in the same place every day.
Or you can have multiple spaces depending on the day/time.
First, think about where you usually stitch right now. Maybe it’s on the sofa of an evening, in bed in the morning, in your car on your lunch break. Use the free download today to make a list.
After you have made this list, think ahead to the rest of the Summer. Will this all still be true? Do you work the same days in the Summer, have the same time etc?
If not, think about last Summer. Where did you do your stitching and when?
And now, back to this Summer. Is there somewhere you want to stitch this season? When you imagine yourself stitching and relaxing, where are you?
Now, let’s plan! Using the lists you have just made, pick 1-5 Summer stitching spots for yourself, and if you can, add on the times you will use these spots (this will help later).
Here’s some examples:
- In the car on my lunch break Mon – Thurs
- In the garden on a weekend
- On the sofa in the evenings
- In a coffee shop on Friday’s
- In the kitchen in the morning
Put your projects in their spaces
Now it’s time to take it a step further. Using the projects you have picked to stitch for the rest of the Summer, assign them to a space and keep the project in its space (if you can).
If you only stitch one project at a time, then keeping it with you at all times will make sure no matter what space you are in, you can stitch.
If you only have one dedicated space that you stitch, keep all of your projects there.
If you have multiple projects and multiple spaces, decide who pairs best with whom.
Going back to my example list, I will probably want a small, easy project for the car, maybe something seasonal for the garden, something cosy, but maybe with easier colours as there is less natural light for the sofa in the evening, something easy to carry for the coffee shop (no big frames needed etc) and something a little more complicated or larger for the kitchen in the mornings.
Of course, your projects won’t always fit into your spaces this easily and you may want to move them around a little.
Because most of the spaces I use are in my home I can move my projects around a little if needed so just know this is flexible and the idea is to get you stitching more, not less so don’t over complicate it or add to many restraints to what you can and can’t stitch depending on your space.
However, keeping a project in the spaces that you are most likely to stitch in can help you stitch more. For example, when I sit down of an evening, whether it’s on the sofa or in bed there is usually a project in front of me somewhere which prompts me to pull it out. I don’t need to think about it too much or get back up to grab any supplies.
Our brain will find one million excuses as to why we can’t do something (I don’t know where it is/I’ve just sat down, etc) so eliminating those beforehand is key.
Now your projects are in their spots, think if there is anything else you might need there to make your stitching easier – a reading light if it’s your evening spot for example.
And feel free to add some bonus bits; a candle, a fan, etc. Claim the space for yourself and make it more “you”.
FREE SUMMER STITCHING CHALLENGE SIGN UP
Extra episodes and posts
- How to organise your WIP projects
- How to make a cross stitch routine
- Where to store your cross stitch supplies
- How to make a Summer reading list
- Setting the mood this Summer
- Why colour is important in cross stitch
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