Luck at the Thrifts

I've had some good luck at the thrift stores over the past few months.  I don't think I've done a post about these finds, but forgive me if I do repeat anything.

Actually, this first item came from a flea market several months ago.  One group of tables was piled with clothing and that's where I spied this beautiful red plaid shirt.  The tables seemed to be a family affair, so when I asked how much the shirt was, the man deferred to his tween-age son to answer with a price.  The kid said, "Fifty cents."  The father nodded.  Sold!

This is a big shirt!  There's a lot of usable fabric in this XL size.  And it looked like it had never been worn, with a lightly starched feeling and creasing like it was right out of the package.  A quality brand as well, Brooks Brothers.  Deal of the day!  It's so pretty, I haven't even washed and deboned it yet, but eventually I'll do that and add it to the shirt stash, along with another one I found at a thrift store, below.

I like the bright blue and turquoise check of this shirt.  I have no immediate plans for it, but it adds a nice variety to the stash.  I did use up quite a few shirts for the last couple of quilts, so I'm on the lookout for good ones, especially lights and brights.  

As far as actual fabric finds, you can see a couple pieces that I got the same day I bought the checked shirt.  At another store, I found quite a few good-sized pieces, including some John Deere fabric, the three pieces on the right side below.

I hadn't thought of making a John Deere themed quilt, but when I saw these, I decided maybe it was time to do that.  Dear Dad, who worked for Deere for 35 years, would have approved.

Now, I'm not a big jewelry wearer anymore; my pierced ears have closed up (might get them re-pierced), but once in a while I wear a necklace.  This one caught my eye at the thrift store.  Even if I don't wear the pendant (but why not?), the chain is nice and I could put a number of other pendants on it or wear it alone.  At under two bucks, it was a no-brainer.  Found another green and yellow fabric there, too.  It could become part of the JD quilt?

This gorgeous apron caught my eye.  Just look at that bright yellow gingham and the pretty embroidery.  It's been washed and pressed, and Dolly (my mannequin) is now modeling springtime itself!

I found a couple of boxes of handy sewing machine gadgets that will fit my old Singer and the one I gave my sister, too.  I already have most of the cams or discs (those dark circular do-dads) and many of the feet, but I don't think my sister has them, so I'll probably pass these on to her.

That blue and yellow floral piece of fabric was a cotton shower curtain, new in the package.  It has already been used as the back of a quilt.

I think that's about it for now.  I'm sure there were other things I picked up but they never made it into pictures, like the brand new camo pants hubby found for mowing lawn...whenever spring gets here.

Have you found any treasures at the thrift store lately?

~Paulette

Tuesday Museday

I added a button to my red felted wool ornament post for Deck the Halls with Dreaming in Patchwork.

Allison is having a linky party through December 30 where you can link up any post showing your handmade holiday decorations.  "Ornaments, tree skirts, pillows; if you make something that spreads Christmas cheer through your home, it is eligible to be linked up!" Allison says.  AND participants will be entered in a fun charm pack giveaway.  Be sure to check it out, and link up if you can!

Around here, I am working on what I think is the last Christmas gift sewing.  Pyrex comes in handy when trimming dog ears in front of the TV.

Are you done with your holiday sewing yet?  (I can hear many of you laughing right now.)  And as I typed that sentence, I just remembered two more things I am partway done with but have to finish.  And sew it goes.

Musing:  Sometimes I catch myself doing something very, what shall I say, quirky?  I started to write them down this week to share, but I stopped at four, for now, because dumping the lot of them all at once might make me sound like a total nut job.

• Quirky things I eat/drink:  [Really, where to begin?]  I have been drinking iced tea mixed with diet ginger ale.  It started when I had a sore throat a couple weeks ago and has continued, because it's quite good!
• Quirky things I do in bed:  Floss my teeth.  [What did you think I was going to say?]  Usually while flipping between Letterman and Leno (or Fallon/Kimmel if it's later), whoever has the more interesting guest.
• Quirky things I do at work:  Avert my eyes from the gross photos whenever I have to look up specialty medical terminology in the desk reference.  Seriously.  If I do catch sight of the pictures, it's like a train wreck:  Hard to look away, but you really wish you hadn't seen it.  I try to focus on the words on top of the page and hope that whatever word I need isn't between leukoplakia and lichen planus [random example].
• Quirky things I do in the sewing room:  I use the flat side of my seam ripper to guide thick or oddly oriented seams under my presser foot.  I'm pretty skilled at this, but you do have to be very careful to get it out of the way quickly before it gets under the needle.  Not that that has ever been a problem for me.  Nope, never.

What about you?  Care to share a quirk?

Something that is not at all quirky is this apron, though it is uniquely and completely hand stitched.  I had to repair a side of the pocket that had detached, and, wow, nothing like a little pressure of someone else's teeny-tiny hand stitches to make you sit up a little straighter.

I mean, just look at the stitching.  (Click to enlarge.)

Here is a pin I've placed for reference as to size.  (Duh, it was sitting on a cutting mat with inch marks, P.)

And no, I am not going to show you my repair.  I'd like to hang onto what's left of my dignity today, thank you.

I bought this at a garage sale a couple years ago.  The elder gentleman said his mother had made it, I'm guessing in the 1940s or '50s.  I bought it primarily because I liked the tree print but soon came to appreciate the overall handiwork.

Thrift-A-Palooza

I figured it was time to do a photo dump of some stuff I've found at the thrift stores lately.  There's not enough time and attention span to cover everything that has come home with me, but here are a few highlights.

How about this vintage apron I found last weekend?  Dolly is wearing it with one of my favorite raspberry colored t-shirts, but because she's so puny, I had to do some major clothes-pinning in the back.  She didn't want to look "sloppy" in it.  Well, the nerve.  So what if she's a size 4, at least I have appendages!

Seriously though, isn't it cute?  Rickrack pocket trim, scalloped hem, bias trim, and those colors.  Swoon.

I don't know what this next thing is, or if it has any purpose other than sitting there looking all interesting and stuff.  But hey, I'll buy 99 cents of WTF any day.

It is a glazed ceramic ball—call it a gazing ball or perhaps, more appropriately, a glazing ball, because that's kind what you do (glaze over) when you start looking at this thing.  You are getting sleepy...

This side reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night.

I found this platter one day at Goodwill, and the next day found the gravy boat in a different spot.  No, I do not go to Goodwill every day.  The first day happened to be a Saturday, but I needed to go back to see what color tag was on 50% sale on Sunday.  Scientific research, you know.

There are no markings on either piece.  Does anyone have a clue?

And this leaf-themed bowl was the same, no markings.  Looks like it's just waiting for some Halloween candy or those last cherry tomatoes from the garden.

I had to have the small golden enamel over stainless steel bowl too.  Right now it's holding all the Goodwill price tags I've cut off the shirts I'm selling on eBay.  What can I say?  I've been on kind of a jag.

Dolly even got in on the eBay act.  Here she is modeling a Harley Davidson shirt.  She went on strike after this one, though.  Not in the mood to have multiple shirts yanked on and off, and honestly neither was I.  We resorted to photos on hangers after that.  Boring but more efficient and less temperamental.

We do what we have to to keep the talent appeased.

Now these dishes, I knew were Homer Laughlin.  How did I know?  I turned them over, silly.

They now reside happily ever after at Mom Wald's Place!

And last but not least, I have started to think about Halloween decorating, starting with framing some thrifted gargoyle postcards in a likewise thrifted frame.

I would really have liked a goth looking frame to up the creepiness factor, but I'm not going to worry about it now.  Okay, I admit that I tried to make this frame less shiny bright and more creepy with some dollar store "spooky fabric" and about three kinds of tape, but that was a monumental craft fail and there went an hour of my life.  Anyway, I think the gargoyles are doing a fair job of being creepy all on their own. 

That, my friends, is a Merman.  For reals.  He hangs out in Italy somewhere, in a perpetual state of expressing the international sign for choking.  How big was that piece of seaweed?  I think I'll call him Heimlich. 

I'll save the thrift store fabric finds for another day.  Happy treasure hunting to you!

Fifteen Minutes

"Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest..."

That expression has always made me giggle.*  When it applies to me, though, not so much.

Working three jobs with but a rough framework of a schedule sounds like a flexibility lover's dream, and for the most part, it is.  When one or two jobs are status quo or slack, the other often picks up.  When all three get a little busier at the same time, however, it becomes more of a logistical conundrum.  Sit down to do one thing and another brushfire pops up.

And so it goes.

Flowers from a thoughtful employer on my five-year work anniversary this week.

That's why Kate's idea of carving out 15 minutes of sewing room time per day appealed to me.  Fifteen minutes seems manageable even under the busiest of circumstances, and allows me to keep moving forward, even if in baby steps.

I've been trying to do that since last Monday, and I fully intended to report on my progress through the linky on Kate's blog on Tuesday.  But since blogging about anything takes me longer than 15 minutes, the post didn't happen...until now.

Monday 3/14 - Create and post tutorial for St. Patrick's Day mug rug.

Tuesday 3/15 - Trim fabric for a friend's planned Sudoku quilt and get ready to mail.

Wednesday 3/16 - Look through fabric stash for Paper Piece Quilt Along fabrics (nothing suitable found...put "shop for fabric" on to-do list).

Thursday 3/17 - Pull and cut fabric for Just One Star block.

Friday 3/18 - Make Just One Star block.

Saturday 3/19 - Fabric shop for PPQA fabric and fruit & veggie prints for Mom Wald's quilt project.

Sunday 3/20 - Prewash fabric and cut blocks from fruit & veggie prints.

So there you have it.  Nothing mind blowing, but action I'm happy about nonetheless.  I plan to keep it up.  Whether I get around to posting about it every week, I can't say for sure.  So far this week, I'm only one for seven; two if you count the post office run to mail some fabric and a quilt block. 

Next on the agenda is to get another PhD (Project Half Done) finished.  I intended to quilt the cross stitch veggie wall hanging for my sister in time for her birthday.  That didn't happen.  Today is her birthday.  Happy Birthday, Nita!  I promise to get it done before anyone plants a garden around here.

That may be a while.  Winter came back for a visit this week.  

There is a frozen sap-sicle on the river birch in the front yard.  We had the tree trimmed last fall, and when it was warmer last week, the sap fell like raindrops from where a branch had been lopped.

Speaking of things on hold, like springtime in Wisconsin, Sunday Sundry will be doing likewise for a while.  Since I'm having to work more on weekends, I'd like to spend the free hours I do have away from the computer and in the sewing room instead (or the thrift shops, or with family).  When the wave of work passes and things have smoothed out again, Sunday Sundry will be back.

Did I ever show you this crocheted apron I found at the thrift store a couple months ago?  

I love the rickrack and ribbon waistband.

It reminds me there's green grass under the white stuff outside, new green underneath the pile of paperwork, lovely things waiting to pop and grow.  

All that from an apron.  Who knew?

*I thought about cleaning up the language, but it just doesn't have the same effect.  Thanks for reading, if you made it this far without taking offense.  Now go kick some ass!

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 28

I have a bit of writer's block this Sunday morning.  My house smells good, like blueberry pancakes, crisp bacon, and strong coffee.  

Snow started falling about an hour ago, first like powdered sugar and now like goose down.  There's a winter storm warning in effect.  Bring it.  I've got nowhere to be except my sewing room.

Said room was a wreck after all the shirt-making.  I need to vacuum and tidy up a bit before I launch into what's next, but I enjoy even the cleaning up part when I'm in that space.

Got some new music to keep me company, courtesy of my friend Joe.  He called me from the ski lift at Big Sky a week or so ago and we talked music.  

A package arrived from him this week (thanks, Joe!) with some CDs, including the Black Keys, Dan Auerbach, Robert Plant, My Morning Jacket, Cake, and The Ironweed Project.  I've been listening to the lattermost over and over.  The lyrics aren't going to win any awards, but the music kept me moving as I finished the shirt Friday and Saturday.

I saw The King's Speech yesterday with my sister and really enjoyed it.  All of the actors were superb, but I especially enjoyed Geoffrey Rush as Logue.

Thank you all for your kind comments on the sew-along shirt.  As I was wearing it yesterday, sitting there in the dark theater, I noticed it was possibly one of the most comfortable shirts I own.  That makes all the fussing about fit worth it in the end.  I really should invest the time to make myself more clothes that fit well, especially since I can't just walk into any store and buy off the rack (they just aren't made to fit the super-tall woman).  

Take jeans, for instance.  I bought a couple patterns and some nice denim about a year and a half ago, and there it still sits in the storage bin.  For me, there's always that little hurdle of anxiety to overcome, built up from past sewing experiences involving fit issues and not-so-great fabric selection.  Although it's more work to make a muslin (or two, or three), this sew-along has made me a believer in the essential part it can play in ensuring a good fit and a better overall outcome.

So you may see me sewing more clothing soon.  Today, however, I have a date with a quilt binding.

Dolly is sporting a new (to her) apron, something I thrifted a month or so ago and haven't even taken the time to iron yet.  

She doesn't mind though.  Nice needlework detail.  

In closing today, Dolly and I would like to serve you a piece of Cake.  I love the guy at 2:13. I could watch a whole video of him jamming along to this song, along with the blonde dry cleaner, the pilot in the orange jumpsuit, and the drug rep.  Enjoy!

Sunday Sundry - Vol. 17

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas...

And that's mostly because we got our first appreciable snowfall last night, not because I've hauled out the holly.

I have brought out a few Christmas things, but mainly this week, I've continued to sort through my mother's sewing and crafting stuff in an effort to declutter my sewing room.  Decide what to keep and what to donate.  I thought her vintage crochet hooks would make a fun display.

Found this old potholder, which needed a soak in Oxi-Clean, along with a couple of cross stitch pieces that were stashed in a sewing caddy.  Mom did the cross stitch, as evidenced by her initials (and the cigarette burn, oops).

During...

 After

I had to weed through the thread stash piled around my machine before I could sew anything today.  I'll be able to use most of these.

These, on the other hand, are just for fun. 

Dolly couldn't wait to wear my vintage holiday apron, a garage sale find.  I really need to talk to her about proper undergarments, though.  She can be kind of a dummy sometimes.

My rotary cutters and scissors look festively organized.  Okay, I confess; they live in this crock year round.

Not Part of the Plan 

Eventually, I cleared the space so I could start quilting my friend's baby quilt for her.  

Things were going along smoothly until I felt the machine thud over a thick spot.  That can't be good...

This is what I saw when I looked underneath.  I'm pretty sure my Supreme Slider was not part of the design plan for this quilt.  Nothing a little seam ripper and tape couldn't fix though.  Not long after that, however, I ran out of thread, so the rest of the quilting will have to wait until I get to the store.

Ooh-wee!

My sister stopped by Saturday afternoon to show me what she'd just picked up from her antique dealer friend.

Two words:  Flippin' awesome!  It's a Frankoma pottery tea set.  I don't know how old it is, but it's in a beautiful glaze called Prairie Green, I believe.  We christened it by brewing some tea right then and there.

Sunday Funnies

From this week's newspaper:

 

And anyone caught using said toilet 

will be cited for the same.

Gangster or non-gangster, if it's parked 

in front of the fire hydrant, 

you know it has to go.

What is a "non-gangster" type vehicle anyway?  Does my Toyota qualify?  I don't think the police really have a clue, judging by the quotation marks.  Maybe the informant was thinking back to 2008, when we did have some gangster type vehicles in town for the filming of Public Enemy.  Mm-hmm, that's right.  Johnny Depp was here, y'all.

And I had to work that day.

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great week, and watch out for those pine needles!