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Quilt Trio

I picked up a lot of three quilts at the thrift auction that were not photographed very well, and (because of the lack of good pics) kind of a mystery. They just arrived, so let's take them out and see what I got. All three were in rough but still usable shape, with staining being the biggest issue. A small polyester and wool utility quilt that is topstitched together with a vintage sheet backing, probably from the sixties or seventies. No issues other than a few seams that need to be sewn down. I love that the maker cobbled together scraps to make this piece. A machine stitched queen size quilt top with patchwork depicting a very long dachshund pup. Stained but adorable. A very old unfinished crazy quilt top, probably from the turn of the twentieth century, with exquisite embroidery. Sadly someone tried to launder it (never ever ever wash vintage crazy quilts.) There are obvious signs of dye migration, silk patch shattering and overall age and water damage....
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Floss Haul

My guy and I were out walking an antique mall last week when I spotted a bundle of vintage DMC floss in a bunch of very old plastic bags held together by a key ring. I knew even for $9.95 no one would probably buy it (the bags were soiled and worn, and the floss had probably been in them for decades) but when I looked through the floss and saw how pretty it was I decided to take it home with me. The ring held thirty bags of floss, some with multiple skeins. I'd date it back to the 60's or 70's. Once outside the old bags the floss glowed like it was brand new -- 44 unused skeins and 16 partials. To pay less than ten dollars for it is a major score, because it's worth about fifty bucks. The seller obviously didn't know (or didn't care) about how much floss is worth. I do. DMC just raised their prices this year, and on average floss went from .79 a skein to .95 a skein. That doesn't sound like much to people who don't embroider, until you ...
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Art Saves Me

I've created an album with pics of my 2025 mini-quilt calendar project for anyone who wants to see more, and read my thoughts about the project and how it helped me get through what has been a horrendous year.
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Talk to the Hand

I try not to be negative (truly) but there were a lot of things that happened this year that prompted me to say no and walk away (sometimes literally.) I thought I'd reflect because maybe you did the same. Black Friday Fallout: My guy and I never go out on Black Friday, and after Thanksgiving this year things got so bad that we've made a point to avoid the malls whenever possible until January. I always despise how badly people behave while they're frantically rushing around and spending too much money for the holidays, but this year they seem extra rude. It also seems like every other person who crosses our path is sneezing or coughing this month, too. As a result we're walking in parks and around little towns instead of walking malls, and we're much happier (and healthier.) Book Marketing: I've received book promo e-mails with these subject lines: "A Discovery That Could Kill Us All" "Warning: These Books Could Cause Emotional ...
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More of Holiday Hell (or Maybe Some Heaven)

Last week I took the day off to spend my guy's birthday with him, and I thought the little harmless things I had planned (eating out, taking a trip to a town close by, and walking around some antique shops) would be fine. First I took him to have breakfast at a local restaurant, only we missed their window for serving breakfast by 15 minutes. No problem, I thought, we'd just drive over to another restaurant nearby that served breakfast all day. Only the car then wouldn't start. This is why I keep paying for AAA every year, by the way. Anyway, we were hungry, and decided to walk to the other restaurant, where we did have a nice breakfast. Then we hiked back and called the AAA roadside assistance, which arrived about 20 minutes later to inform us that our battery was the culprit, and promptly tried to sell us a new battery for fifty bucks more than we could get one at the local auto parts (you cannot scam a former HVAC mechanic, or a gal who did a trade school ...
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The High Cost of Thrifting

There were a couple of yarn lots I put a minimum bid on in December, but they ended up in bidding wars that knocked me out of the competition. I thought I'd point out why high bidding prices make thrifting as expensive as buying new for retail. This 22 lbs. lot probably has about 50 skeins in it (if you do the math, that's how many would weigh 22 lbs.) They're mostly Red Heart Super Saver skeins, which I like a lot, and retail for $4.99 each, or about $250.00 for 50 of them. It's a lot of yarn, so I only wanted to bid the minimum $15.00 (shipping and handling would have been an extra $22.00.) There were no pics of what was in the box, and it would be a bit of a hassle to store, so that was all I was interested in paying. I was the first bidder but the bidding war began almost immediately, and the winning bid was $77.33. That's probably going to run over a hundred dollars with shipping, which is $2.00 a skein. Here's a slightly smaller lot of yar...
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Quilt Trio

My last wannabuts bid for the year was for this lot of quilts that I quite forgot that I bid on until I got the notice I had won the lot for the minimum bid, plus one penny shipping. The two patchwork quilts look like utility quilts (and I will probably use those as crate liners for our pups.) It was the third quilt that caught my attention. From the photos in the listing this crazy quilt is definitely vintage, with the typical shattering and threadbare patches that are typical of those made at the turn of the twentieth century. Judging by the dye migration stains on the front and the foundation fabric someone probably tried to wash it, which is why you should always have vintage quilts cleaned by a an antique textile cleaning pro. As is the crazy quilt is probably not worth repairing, although I can't decide that until I see it in person. What I am interested in is dating the piece and perhaps using some of the patchwork for next year's calendar quilted tote proje...
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