From the stitching basket
How to track a needlepoint project, one cozy session at a time.
When a canvas goes back in the basket for a week, it’s easy to forget which thread you used or where you meant to stitch next. A small project record gives your future self a friendly place to start.
You can use a notebook, a spreadsheet or a project tracker. The routine below works with any of them, including while you wait for Bargello to launch.
1. Give each canvas its own record
Write down the canvas name, designer, mesh count and the date you start. Add a photo before the first stitch so you have something to look back on. If you have several canvases on the go, give each a separate page or record.
Choose a status that describes where it is now: planned, in progress or finished. Keep “stitching finished” separate in your notes from any later finishing work, such as making an ornament or pillow.
2. Make a supply plan before you shop
For each thread, record the brand, color name or number, and quantity you plan to use. Keep a note of the dye lot if it matters for matching. Add needles, stretcher bars and any other materials you need.
Mark each item as needed, ordered or in hand. Check your basket before buying, and update the list when a parcel arrives. Quantities depend on your canvas, stitch choices and coverage; a tracking list isn’t a thread calculator.
3. Log just enough after each session
Record the date, time spent and what you stitched. A timer helps if you like one; a manual note is fine too. Pause for breaks so the total reflects stitching time.
Add a photo in similar light now and then, plus a rough percentage complete if you find it useful. Treat that percentage as your own estimate. A dense motif and an open background can take very different amounts of time, so percent complete won’t reliably predict a finish date.
A worked example: the little garden ornament
This is an imagined project to show the routine, not a pattern or a shopping prescription. Picture a small floral ornament on 18-mesh canvas, with a flower, leaves, background and border.
Starting record: Little garden ornament · 18 mesh · started October 3 · in progress. First photo: unstitched canvas.
Supply check: pink thread for the flower and green for the leaves are in hand; cream for the background is ordered; a spare needle is still needed. In a real record, add each thread’s brand, color number and quantity.
Session 1 · October 3 · 35 minutes
Stitch most of the flower. Record 35 minutes, take a photo, and estimate progress at 20%. Note: “Pink is working well. Leave the center until I decide on its color.”
Session 2 · October 6 · 25 minutes
Finish the petals and start the leaves. Total stitching time is now 60 minutes: 35 + 25. Update progress to about 35%. Mark the cream thread “Have it” when it arrives.
Session 3 · October 10 · 40 minutes
Finish the leaves and begin the background. Total stitching time is 100 minutes, or 1 hour 40 minutes. Estimate progress at 55%, and take another photo. Note: “Continue the cream background below the left leaf; border is still untouched.”
The percentages are illustrative estimates, not measurements derived from the minutes. Even after a gap between sessions, that last note tells you exactly where to begin.
4. Leave one kind note for next time
Before putting the canvas away, write a sentence that starts with “Next time…”. Name the area to work on, the thread to pick up, or a stitch decision to make. Record substitutions as you go so you don’t have to remember them months later.
When the stitching is done, add a final photo and mark the project finished. Keep your supply notes and total time with it; they can be useful when you plan a similar canvas.
A cozy home for that little routine
Bargello is a needlepoint project tracker app coming soon to iPhone and Android. Start a project from a catalog canvas, keep a supply plan, record stitching sessions, and save progress photos and notes together. You update your own progress; Bargello doesn’t count stitches for you.
Join the Bargello launch waitlist for an email when it’s ready. Until then, your notebook and a quick photo are a lovely place to start.