Thrifty Find Vintage Sunbeam Iron

Every once in a while, a special piece speaks to you.  This is one of those items.  Vintage irons are always a beautiful piece of nostalgia for sewing rooms.  Years ago, I purchased several at a single sale.  Due to space concerns, I sold most of them off and vowed to not get lured into purchasing an iron ever again... with this one exception:   The Sunbeam Electric Iron with trivet in its original case sitting on the shelf at the local thrift store.  Too cool to pass up!

Quite the fancy unit in its day.   Makes me wonder who in the 1920's or 30's decided to make this purchase.  How much did they spend?  Were they excited as I was to receive it into their home?  Well-chosen curiosities are the best things to surround oneself with.  They can inspire and ignite the imagination while giving a sense of warmth from those that came before us.  At least, it does for this artist. :)

 

127 Yard Sale Kentucky and Tennessee

The 127 Yard Sale was always our "go to" summer vacation for over 12 years.  It has been 5 years, since we have driven and taken in the lovely scenery of Kentucky and Tennesse.  A few years, we have even completed the trek through Georgia and Alabama.  After a great deal of procrastination, we booked some reservations and set off to see how the sales have changed.  In Tennessee, the sale sites changed slightly with some popping up in new locations.  Kentucky was a little more sparce but still had some areas well worth visiting.  In one of these sites in Kentucky, we found this vintage Baby Brother child's sewing machine.  It is exceptional shape for its age, and I am looking forward to shining her up.  :)  

There are some splotches of paint on the platform and a coating of dust to remove.  Although dust never shows well, it does a decent job of protecting surfaces over the years if its dry.

 Not gonna lie, I went into the trip a little stressed and wore myself out cleaning my basement.  Nesting is one of the faults I have.  Interesting fact, July had 5 weeks in it.  Mistakenly, my brain had me cleaning weeks ahead of the trip, instead of my usual week before. lol  Instead of taking a break, I pushed myself to finish the job I started.  Took a few trips to the local thrift store prior to the trip to donate and left on the adventure with a clear mind of not only what I had, but also, what I needed to sell off in the future and a list of items to search for to complete some projects.  My only apprehension was taking our Mini Cooper Countryman instead of the truck.  Not that I usually buy anything huge, but you never know!  ;) 

One of the items on my "lookout" list was wooden spools.  Not for the beautiful spools themselves, but for the thread held on them.  Most of these contain wool thread.  If you search through for the fat ones, they contain quite a bit of wool thread.  Saves loads of money!  Not as strong as some threads for stitching but will look lovely on recycled wool candle mats and penny rugs.  The gentlemen, who was selling these, was the same person and site where I purchased them 5 years ago!  lol   I am going to do some wool testing on a few of the spools.  There were a few that didn't have that special feel to them.  Still some lovely thread, but I try to stick to the wool ones, unless they fooled me and test otherwise.  

In the past, I have found a wider range of colors.  Great for a little pizzaz, but I was happy to add the more subdued colors from this trip.  Plus, he had some great earth tones which could be over dyed nicely.

The gentlemen who sold the Baby Brother threw in the Singer stitch cams.  Although I currently do not have a machine for them, they might come in handy in the future should the machine enter the herd or will be good for trading.  Also, as luck would have it, these attachments, vintage needles, and book for a Pfaff 130-6 were put out for free. How terrific is that?  I love my Pfaff.  Any opportunity to acquire original attachments and bobbins is a wonderful day.  To find them for free...  Simply awesome!  In the bag for the Pfaff parts, there were also vintage huge, curved needles used in sewing farm bags and leather items.   

At one of the stops, my eye spied a Singer Featherweight.  Surprisingly, the seller was asking $300.00.   It had its box and attachments.  I refrained and wince in writing this.  She probably would have come down a bit, but I have a few Featherweights.  My Hubby was a little disappointed when I left it behind to become someone else's treasure.  Now, that is why I clean prior to leaving.  I look at items in a different light.  Sewing machines can add up and overtake space quickly.  Plus, I have a Vintage GE, which was the precursor to the Featherweight, arriving soon to join the herd.  ;)   With the addition of a few vintage Playskool puzzes and random kitchen items, it was a nice round thoughtful haul.  Once I part with a few things, my want list will grow.  It was just lovely to be back on the road again! :)

Disappearing 9 Patch Quilt ~ Prim Rearranging

As I was measuring my "Sister's Choice" quilt for its border, my eyes wandered over to my wicker work basket where my very first quilt was folded and tucked away.  The "Disappearing 9 Patch"  was composed of my very favorite fall themed fabrics.  It was folded and set aside, because I couldn't make up my mind on a border.  Enough procrastinating...  The border will be black.  I unfolded the top, measured, cut, sewed, and viola. 

 

The finish to this quilt has been on my mind ever since the discovery of my newest obsession  The Free Motion Quilting Project blog by Leah Day.  Leah has inspired the designing artist in me to take a stab at some thread art.  Her blog is a wealth of knowledge on the "how to" of machine quilting.  Leah is such an inspirational quilter and human being.  Her blog is full of helpful videos, and she has classes available for purchase on Craftsy.   After a lot of reading, Kenna and I have decided to create some loose spider webs on the black border of this quilt.  You know, the kind that cover the garden plants in the fall. *sigh*  :)  

  

 

There's been a little delay in the practice of free motion quilting, as I awaited some supplies to get Kenna and myself prepared:   quilter gloves, a soapstone pencil, a darning foot, and a walking foot.  I am so excited to take this next step.  I have some mini projects planned for the upcoming week! :)

 

 

Here is a pic of my new work area in the front room.  Due to the addition of the kitchen island, my oak table had to move to the front of the house.  I am not a big fan of the heavy pattern to oak furniture.  The table definitely needed to be toned down, so I folded up one of my garage sale quilt scores.  (It is a hand quilted beauty that if I remember correctly was $10.00.)   It makes a nice runner and adds a very homey feel to the front room.  My wooden trencher fits in nicely after I darkened the wood with some instant coffee. ;) 

 

 



Got to get some mowing done today.  Hopefully, I will be able to get some sewing in after work tomorrow! :)

Sleeping Bunnies WIP ~ Embroidery Floss Dispenser Tip

 

I had a relaxing evening last night watching the Pink Panther on STARZ with my son and working on my Janlynn quilt "Sleeping Bunnies".  This quilt got put on the back burner for a while, because I was having difficulty deciding the color of the bowed border.  Here is the progress to date...

 

 

 

 

Since going out on a limb and veering away from assigned pattern colors, there is a lot of relief in writing that I am very happy with how the colors are intermingling on this quilt.  The darker border makes a nice frame and adds some dimension to the piece.  Hopefully, this quilt will see a finish by the end of May.  :) 

While working on my various baby quilts, I have tried different ways of storing and dispensing floss.  (My storage bins can be viewed here.)  But while working on my projects over the years, I was not happy with the methods that I was using for keeping the floss handy.  The individual baggies worked great for organizing the amounts of skeins needed, but my problems began once the thread was being dispensed.  On lazy days, I wrapped the thread back around the skeins and used a baggie for the odd divided strands.  On days that I was more organized, I tried the small cardboard dividers.  If my work consisted of counted cross stitch, I might have been more satisfied with the cardboard dividers and the cases that could be purchased, but they seemed too small and were just not working out for me...

While catching up on blog reading, I caught one of Lisa's beautiful pictures at her blog Lil' Fish Studios.  She was doing some embroidery on one of her fantastic felted stones and sitting next to her project was an assortment of floss wrapped around clothespins.  It was absolutely homespun dispensing and right up my alley! :)  Maybe this idea was not new, but it certainly was to me.  So I headed out to the store and purchased a few packages, because let's face it... clothespins are cheap and have a 101 uses! ;)

I am happy to report that the clothespins are working out great.  Size wise, they are easy for me to grab and not loose in the couch cushions, and I can still wrap the cut threads onto the pins and clamp them securely into place.  As with everything in life... this method was just suited for me, and I am glad that I stumbled upon it.  Plus... the clothespins look cool! ;)

The handles on the pins are perfect for labeling the floss number with a fine sharpie marker. :)

With the day off from work today, my "Sister's Choice Quilt" will be getting a border to finish it into a flimsy ***Yay!!***,  a few butterflies will get added to my baby quilt at lunch time, and then I have a date with a graphite drawing that has been waiting patiently in my studio... A perfect plan to settle down to on a rainy day. :) 

Thrifty Find ~ Singer 99k Sewing Machine

Monday was a great day to take off for the local thrift store to drop off a few boxes and bags of goods that needed to find a new home.  It always makes me feel better to lighten the load! :)  I browsed around the store to check out the wool sweaters and was thrilled to find one with some gorgeous pastel stripes.  Then, I happened upon some dress slacks for work... Double Score!!  How much more could a girl ask for?  So, my next stop was the check out counter.  One of the ladies standing in the vicinity suggested that I lay down my items and take a look up front.  My eye spied some farm toys in the distance, so I made a beeline to them and noticed that they were not vintage... :(   Feeling as though my luck filled hunt was over, I headed back down the isle to the counter.  One parting glance to the front ledge of the store stopped me in my tracks ... a Singer 99k with its original carrier sat gleaming in the light of the window.  SWEET!

Now I will be candidly honest and admit that I have repeatedly told Mr. Hollow during our travels that collecting sewing machines was not for me due to size and space.  (As if that ever stopped me with my other collections! ;) )  We have seen a few heavily used Singer models here and there, and they never really spoke to me. ( Restoration on mechanical items isn't a big desire of mine or more importantly to Mr. Hollow.)  But I can honestly say, this nearly mint machine took my breath away. *sigh*

My camera does not do it justice.  Although this model isn't as desired as the freestanding featherweight predecessors, the 99k is still an example of fine craftsmanship that has the ability to last through the test of time.  Don't you just love the work light mounted on the back?  Whoever had owned this 99k obviously cherished it, since its gleaming black paint and ornate design have only a few minor blemishes.  Truly an amazing fact... Since after checking out the serial number,  I found out this machine was shipped new from Kilbowie, Scotland on September 11, 1954.   

These Singers are such a stark contrast to the plastic that has taken over many of the modern day counterparts.  Not that there aren't great machines out there... Don't get me wrong... But as with my Kenmores, I do tend to favor the metal bodied machines.  Maybe, it is my fear of breaking things! ;) 

The Singer 99k tilts on metal posts that fit into round slots at the back of the base.  When I got home, I looked under the machine and found some extra Singer needles, a pile of bobbins, the original tube of oil, original manual, and a slew of feet that offer more options than I could ever dream of!

Now seriously... How can you go wrong buying any working sewing machine for $18.00?

A Thrifty "Hand Me Down" Find ;) ~ A Kenmore Zig Zag Sewing Machine

I am happy to introduce the newest arrival to my sewing circle... a Kenmore #1941 Zig Zag machine.  Isn't she a beauty?  :)  Her chrome detailing is a little flashier than my #1310 Zig Zag (aka Kenzie), and she sports a few more features in her repertoire.  A quick initial inspection reveals that she has a flip switch for power, a lever for reverse, less knobs, hidden storage, and a detachable base for easy cuffs.  She is snazzy and will be a welcome work horse to my sewing experience.  Plus, I am sure Kenzie will be happy to have a friend to share the load! ;)

I love these steel bodied Kenmore's (I dread to think that they are probably considered vintage by some! ;) ).  They can stitch through numerous layers without even a hiccup.  When working with linty felted wool, there is no other option to me.  I need a machine that is tough and can be cleaned with a simple brush and vacuum but is accurate enough to piece together my quilting projects.  This newest addition is a "super high shank" gal, so I purchased an adapter to enable her to use my 1/4 inch piecing presser foot.  I am anxious to see how she likes my Aurifil thread.  Kenzie wasn't too thrilled with it!  

Since Kenzie loves to stitch through multi layers of felted wool projects, I have moved her upstairs into my wool project construction area.  This will be great, since all my recycled felted wool can be found stored in tubs nearby.  My quilt fabric is located on the main floor of our home, so the newest Kenmore will reside in the sewing area of my front room.  She will be set up and ready for working on all of my quilts at a moment's notice. :) 

I will be giving the #1941 a trial run this afternoon on some new blocks for the Skill Builder Challenge.  I have every confidence that things will go smooth... You see this machine and I have a history that goes waaay back.  Her one and only owner was my Mom!  :)    I am confident that our future adventures will be much more enjoyable for both of us than our previous ones, since I have taken the time to actually learn the basics! ;)

Without further ado... Here she is in all her glory...  The newest addition to the Pumpkin Hollow Stitching Circle...

Kenna.  

#2 Nine Patch Block ~ SBS

I finished block number two!  Yay!!  Look at those seams.  To be honest, I have never had seams that lined up with such perfection on my first quilt top.  Thanks Leila!  She threw in the small suggestion to mark or know where your 1/4 inch seam line is on your machine.  Unfortunately, a cheap ruler made for an incorrect marking on the start of my first block.  Yikes!  But after measuring with one of my quilting rulers, I haven't had any problems.  It shows that a little suggestion, that some quilters would take for granted,  is golden to a newbie.  And thanks to the delivery of my quilting supplies, I know that my rotary cutting with the new mat has drastically improved and is more accurate. :)

Excitement was mounting last week as I waited for the announcement of the next block.  My answer was posted Friday... It is to be the "Churn Dash" block.  And I must say, it is a very impressive looking block.  With other commitments arising first,  I had to wait on beginning this block. Grrrr!  So, my cutting will commence tonight.  I am hooked on quilting and welcome tackling the challenge!

I thought I would share with you my partner in crime... my Sears Kenmore sewing machine.  This steel bodied beauty was what helped to create my first quilt top and will help me create this sampler quilt.  It was a find for $5.00 at a garage sale.  The moments that it has brought me are priceless.  I checked the background on this machine on line, and they say this serial number was manufactured in 1968.  You would never know by looking at it.  Of course, that was a great year.  Ooops, did I just give away my age! ;)

I have browsed through the newer machines and really like the Janome DC 2011 and Magnolia 7330.  Maybe some time in the future, one will grace my sewing room. Of course, it will have to share space with my current machine!

 For right now though, it is me and my trusty Kenmore... 

Happy 4th of July Everyone!! :)

#1 Log Cabin Quilt Block ~ SBS

Time to start the Skill Builder Sampler by Leila over at Sewn by Leila.   (Click the picture on the side bar if you would like to participate.)  My tools for quilting are minimal, so I hopped over to Jo Ann Fabrics online to purchase some much needed supplies.  Luckily, most of the items that I needed were on sale.  I have been wanting a larger 24 x 36 inch rotary mat but didn't want to spend that much money.  As I clicked on Jo Ann's homepage, there was a little box that gave a code for 50% off my highest regular priced item.  Yay!  Now, I finally have a decent sized mat... :)  I also added to my rulers, got a rotary blade sharpener, and a gripper for holding my large rulers.  Now if I had only remembered the sewing machine oil... Hmmmm, guess I'll have to make out another list. LOL   Hey, they sent me a coupon code for free shipping on my next order of $35.00 or more.  ;) 

I picked out some fabrics from my over flowing stash.  These are the main colors that I would like to work from.  Some of the block designs will probably need a few additional colors that I will pull out when they are needed.

Hard to believe how time flies when you are trying to lay out a quilt block.  Thank heavens for the digital age.  Each configuration had its own picture.  (I find it easier to judge the blocks up on a screen.)  My front runner was color coordinated with repeating fabrics.  But at the last minute, I changed my mind and created a  random configuration; although, I did try to keep the darks separate from the lights.

 

What was the reason behind my method of madness?  I decided to let go of my nit picky ways on this block and just let it happen.  My personal tribute to the days when you had to make due with the limited fabrics on hand and just create.  I can be such a perfectionist when it comes to my drawing (and I could see it beginning with my previous block formations), so I made a conscious decision to make myself let go of the reigns.  I won't promise that it will ever happen again, but it was definitely a new experience for me.  The fun thing is that I will always think of that when I look at this block.  How cool it that ?  :)

Oh... and see the little block.  Well, that is what happens when I use a cheap ruler to mark my 1/4 inch seam allowances.  By the 5th and 6th block, I was losing ground rapidly, and the fabric was not lining up.  So I decided to stop where I was at, remeasure, correct the mistake, and start all over.   It was definitely worth it.  I felt like I had won an award after completing this block.  

Best of all my block came in at 12 1/2 inches square!!  Can you believe it???  I feel an incredible amount of pride and have learned so much about myself and quilting with this block.   It makes me happy to be learning a new form of art.  Onward to block #2... the Nine Patch.

Adding to the Flock ~ Chic Pincushion

The places you can visit in blogland seem endless.  There are some extremely talented and wonderful people sharing of their thoughts, talents, and adventures.  If you watch my sidebar, a good way to meet fellow bloggers is during a blog party.  Yes... there are giveaways during these parties, but the best part is all of the talented individuals that you get to meet from around the world.  One such party was given by Sew, Mama, Sew .  They host their party twice a year (next one is in December). 

It was during their week of fun that I added immensely to my blog roll and met the fun ladies over at Chic-n-Stix.  They make some cool and sassy chicken pincushions.  These hens come with their own personal name and Chic-n-Stix label.  I immediately fell for the retro colors, sassy attitude, and crazy feathers on top of their heads.  I know, I know... most of my loves involve primitive items with subdued colors, but there is this wild side to me that can flip over these fab colors of the past.  Maybe I should blame it on my childhood of the 70's or my love of vintage fabrics.  More than likely, it can be traced back to that wondrous day when a little group of crazy critters were introduced to TV land  by one of my all-time favorite artist's Jim Henson. The critters that he created were called Fraggles, and they were the imaginery inhabitants of the series Fraggle Rock.  Their swishy hair, bold colors, and adorable personalities have stuck with me to this day, but more on those little guy's in my birthday post that will be coming up next month... Back to the Chics!

After entering for their Chic giveaway, I could not wait and clicked into their Etsy shop to pick out my own personal Chic.  It arrived quickly and here is the box when I opened it.  They were sweet enough to enclose some business pens that just happened to match the colors of my Chic.  How fun is that?!   LOL  

I dug through the crinkled shredded paper, and there in all of her glory was my super cool Chic, Dana Disco!  She came with her own card name tag with the date of when she "flew the coop" .   Look at those wild "Henson-esque"  feathers that she is sporting!  She is one funky Chic!! LOL

Her body is full of rice, so she is a nice weight.  I am really reluctant to stick her with that first pin; but after all, she was bought to be my sewing room pal.  I have a strong feeling that we are going to have some really wild times ahead of us!   ;)

I couldn't end this post without giving a big thanks to Jennifer over at Taken Patiently for the wonderful yarn that I won!  The generousity of the blogging community is amazing.  I look forward to have a chance at participating in the next giveaway.  Just keep your eye to my sidebar for links to parties in our blogging community! :)

Dr. Seuss is on the Loose ~ Fabric That Is!

Although I have only started making quilts this year, I have been obsessed with fabric for most of my life.  The designs, colors, and textures are a world of fascination to me.  My love of fabric covers vintage, modern, novelty, floral, solids, and well... pretty much everything. ;)  I love them all.  But my heart skips a beat, when they combine my passion for children's literature with cotton!   No guilt of adding to the stash after seeing these fabrics.  "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" based on the book by Dr. Seuss and brought to us adoring fans in cotton by Robert Kaufman Fabrics, is simply perfect.  The gorgeous red and green fabric depicts the Whos sprinkled randomly in black singing.  The fabric, pictured in between those pieces, is a panel with the illustrated scenes from the famous book in brilliant crisp colors.  If you visit Kaufman Fabric's website here , there are several  free quilt patterns.   Scroll down the page to see the free quilt pattern entitled "Merry Grinchmas Panel Quilt."  They offer the instructions for this wonderful panel cut up and incorporated into a quilt.  Their design is so eye catching and full of fun color that I immediately had to buy some fabric for the future project.   

While wandering around on the Internet looking for fabric to coordinate with the "Grinch Quilt", I stumbled across Ready, Set, Snow by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda.  WOW!  The bold color palette and playful designs reminded me of a Seussian tale.  So, I bought two charm packs with the strong feeling that they might end up as terrific accent blocks.   I also stumbled across Kate Spain's "Flurry" for Moda, which can be viewed here .  It reminds me of vintage Christmas wrap.  Love It!!  That has been added to my wish list for now, while I save up some more "add to the stash" money! ;)

Thrifty Finds ~ Town Garage Sales

I just LOVE town garage sales.  It is like a written guarantee that you will just have to find something!  So... I loaded up the Jeep:  travel mug with green tea, few snacks, medicine kit, light jacket (morning was cool), and ...oh yah, my son.  He decided to tag along. ;)   Yep, loaded up everything except for the map...  Rats!   Thanks heavens that I have been through this town's sales a few times, so no house was left unchecked.   It was threatening rain early, but it missed us and was a beautiful day.

Normally, I do not grab many baskets but fell for the rustic look to this one.  The bag of DMC floss was calling to me for 25 cents.  I never pass up a quilting book to read, and the soft baby fleece print was a steal for 2 yards @  $1.00.  There was more fabric available, but with an ever growing stash, I have to focus!  Do you think my hubby will believe me.  ;) LOL

I guess we know the answer to that one!  This was a one stop shop.  The lady was very nice.  I believe she teaches at the local school.  She tried to work it out so that it was close to $1.00 a yard and was nice enough to bag by holiday or color.  She marked the bundles in the middle really low, since she had turned the fabric into napkins.  They are extremely large napkins and look like they were never used.  Lots of fabric and assorted patterns for $1.00 a  bag.  Score!

My sister in law called me last Christmas looking for fiber fill.  I was out.  Shocking, I know!   But in my defense, I made a big paw print pillow for make cat, or I mean Santa did... LOL  I did have some rolls of batting, but other than that, I was tapped.  She couldn't believe it, but I told her that I stock up at garage sales and would replenish my stock then.  Here is my start.  Two bags for 50 cents.  How can you beat that??

Aren't these hand quilted table mats pretty?  *sigh*  I feel the need to ramble on about all the work that went into making these, but I will refrain.  The kind lady said that she just had too many in her house.  She said that it is terrible when you cannot even remember who made them.  Well, I was happy to help her out by taking them off her hands. :)

Now for the odd and unusual find... Black Rhea and small ostrich eggs.   It was a young man, not much older than my son, that sold these.   How could he know that I have been looking at these on the Internet to purchase?  ;)   He saved me some serious cash.  What a great way to find supplies and get a little exercise too!

My son didn't purchase a whole lot, but we had a fun day together and that was priceless.  I sprang for lunch at the local grocery store, and we ran into hubby on our way home.  He immediately looked into the back seat and wondered why I hadn't bought more.  Grrrr!  He's lucky that I didn't run back to the lady with all the fabric before she closed for the day! LOL 

Thrifty Friday Find ~ Floss & Wool for Upcycling

I woke up this morning and decided to devote the morning to being thrifty.  So, I put my freshly brewed green tea in a travel mug and set off for an adventure.  The first stop was a thrift shop in a quaint little town.  I was hoping to find some wool jackets that had some color to them or anything else that might catch my eye. ;) 

Jackpot!  Everyone must be cleaning in anticipation for spring.  I found 9 wool jackets in the most wonderful colors that I have seen all year... camel, red, black, green, sky blue, and purple.  And even better, they were all long jackets, and they didn't have any of that foam backing that you cannot remove from the fabric! :)  

The pic below shows them after I spent the afternoon hacking them up.  That is what my son calls it! ;)  Aren't the colors wonderful... *sigh*  I have been looking for some bright additions to my stash. 

If you look at the last row to the right, the grey and burgundy are two wool blazers that I found.  On top of them,  there is a piece of cream and brown wool fabric that I found in the remnant bin.  I measured tonight, and it is 2 yards of fabric!  This is the first time that I have ever found wool fabric that came from a bolt at a thrift shop.  Yay!  

At the same shop, I found some floss.  It was in a basket and not marked.  I asked the girl at the counter, and she said that they were 25 cents a piece.  I picked through and pulled out most of the unused skeins.  It didn't seem like a lot, but it ended up being 93 skeins all together.  I cannot wait to add them to my bolt bins .  

Quite a haul for the first stop.  So how much did I spend for 9 wool jackets, 2 wool blazers, 2 yards of wool fabric, and 93 skeins of floss?  Well, the total came to $48.00, but Fridays are 50% off, so I got the whole lot for $24.00.  Yipeee!

The next stop was to a Goodwill store for a few sweater purchases ;) , and then on to another small thrift shop.  Can you believe it... another sale!  Fill a bag for $5.00.  The wonderful ladies that work there taught me the fine art of filling a brown bag to capacity.  (They were the ones that packed mine!)  They said  that you got to know when to fold them and know when to roll them.  This was a spin off of Kenny Roger's Gambler song. :)   So, I went around the shop, by that time humming The Gambler due to the power of suggestion, and picking up bargains.  They waited for me to bring a few up, rolled them up tight, and added them to the bag.  The results can be seen below; although, they were packed farther down in the bag at the store.  I'm surprised the ride home didn't burst the bag.

So here is the end result of that stop: 1 wool blazer, 1 wool/cashmere blazer, 1 wool skort, 2 wool short skirts, 2 wool long skirts, and three beautiful wool sweaters.   And yes, they all came out of that brown bag!  The cashmere fuchsia sweater on the bag in the pic was purchased  half off for $2.50 cents from the same store.  This brought my total to $7.50.   I was thrilled, and the ladies from the shop were happy to get rid of some of their winter inventory.   



Now, I can go to sleep with a smile on my face and lovely woolly dreams! ;)

Thrifty Friday Find ~ Floss Storage

This fabulous Friday find is a combination of two. These storage bins are plastic bolt and washer bins. My husband found them at our local hardware store. They were updating to a new display wall, and my hubby asked what the store was doing with the old bins. The owner had someone else interested in them, but they never came back to get them, so we got them all! I took a few of them to make a storage unit for my embroidery floss. The bins are five to a row, and each one can tip and lift out of its holder with ease. The rows interlock with the one above it and mount easily onto the wall. There were stickers on each of the bins describing the bolts and washers that were inside. I removed the stickers by soaking them with a layer of Goo Gone. They cleaned up like new!

The second part of this find is the contents. I love to pick up cheap embroidery kits that are reduced do to missing colors. It gives me a reason to personalize a project with my own color choices. So, I need to have individual colors of floss on hand to complete these projects, and it never hurts to have older colors, too. Floss is getting harder to find in stores without a long drive from where I live, and it is going up in price. So, what better to look for at garage sales? To be honest, I haven't been that successful in finding many skeins, but as you can see, my Mom knocked this one out of the park. She kept finding bags upon bags of floss and at a cheaper than cheap price! When my husband came home with the bins and asked if I could use a few, the light bulb went on, and my floss had a nice, neat, organized place to live!