Valerean

Here's a small lot of thrifted yarn for which I paid $7.99, and had no competition at all for it, probably because it was such a small lot. So why did I bid on just thirteen skeins? Unlike most thrifted yarn I've bid on or bought locally, most of the skeins had labels that I could clearly read. Figuring out the value of yarn depends on three things: condition, amount, and labels. Sometimes only one of those things matter. Since the amount of yarn in this lot is small you'd think it's not worth much, right? Think again. These five Premier Isaac Mizrahi Craft Yarn skeins retail for $7.00 each. You're looking at $35.00 worth of yarn here (and it's stunning, too.) The same goes for these Deborah Norville-endorsed Chunky Serenity skeins. Add another $21.00 to the lot's value. This wool blend is particularly pricey at $16.47 a skein. In fact, expect to fight for any pure wool or wool blend yarn in a thrift auction, because they'

Another way to repair and restore an old quilt with fraying patchwork is to replace a patch with a newer one that can cover the weak seams. Here you see I've first tried to restitch both sides of the light yellow patch, but the fabric is very weak and will likely tear away from the stitches. You can try and match the fabric you're covering, but I just try to keep to the same color if possible. I selected a light yellow calico scrap, which I trimmed and folded to cover the problem area. Some quilters will cut out the fraying patch before they do this, but I like to leave it in place to honor the original maker. I used blind stitches to set the new patch in place, and then quilted over it. If you do this carefully no one can ever tell you've covered an existing patch.

On Christmas Day last year my guy and I meant to go and walk the beach, but it rained, so we settled for a long drive in the country and (when the rain stopped) a walk in a state park we like. I brought the camera along because although it was a wet, kinda miserable day I like taking pictures of interesting things I see. Sometimes all I need for an idea for a story is an single photo, like this one of an ancient wooden sailboat boat that looked like it sailed onto this property and got wedged in these trees. If you found that in your backyard one morning, would you look inside? This tumble down barn we passed seemed a bit menacing. What secrets might it reveal if it suddenly collapsed? Treasure? Bones? A tunnel that leads to an underground world, or another dimension? At the park there are these concrete steps everywhere that are green around the edges and suddenly start and stop in the oddest places. If you follow them, where would they take you? Forward in time,

The high price of magazines made me decide to bid on this collection of 30 vintage issues of Quilting Arts, dating from Spring 2002 to April/May 2010. I used to be able to afford an issue here and there of QA (and still pick up one now and then), but it was a bit too pricey for me to invest in a subscription. Anyway, no one challenged me for them, so I ended up winning the lot. They arrived in pristine condition, with a few of these seasonal gift-making issues that I really like. Here's everything that came. Each issue retailed for $7.99 new; to buy thirty of them back in the day would have set me back $239.70. I paid $14.99 for the lot, or about forty-nine cents per issue. Savings: $224.71

I'm going to experiment with painting fabric this year, so I decided to thrift more art supplies. I ended up bidding on and winning two lots with the things I needed; this one is the first that I got for $9.99. It has all the foam brushes I need, and also a couple of stencils. I didn't mind that there was a brand new diamond painting kit in it with four small projects, either. Total retail on this lot is $118.47; I paid $9.99 for the whole lot. Savings: $108.48. This large lot I had to fight a bit for, as there were a couple of other bidders. There were so many brand-new supplies in this lot I felt it was worth the battle (some individual prices on those follow), and ended up winning it in the end. This calligraphy set doesn't have the ink cartridges, but it came with everything else and I have plenty of ink. New it would sell for $21.29. A complete set of Prisma watercolor pencils, and only a few have been used. This one retails for $34.00.

When Kat was a tween she fell in love with Twilight , so I pre-read the first two books in the series so I could see if they were age-appropriate for her (and they were.) We actually raced to get a copy of the final novel while we were on vacation, which made her very happy. Then followed a few years where she and her friends completely obsessed over the movies. Anyway, I am not a fan of this series or any sort of YA myself, but anything Twilight -related brings back some lovely memories for me. When I saw two sets of the themed journals in tins go up for auction, I decided to bid on them, and won. Here are the two sets of journals when they arrived, unpacked. The journals themselves are all in pristine condition and need no upcycling, although I may make fabric covers for them. The tins were in slightly rough shape, so I decided to rehab them. I decided to use a metallic silver spray Rust-oleum suitable for metal to paint the tins. First I sanded them, and then

For twenty-four hours I left these five vintage cigar boxes sit with detoxing agents (baking soda, coffee grinds, dryer sheets, vinegar and Febreze) inside them to see which worked best to remove the tobacco/storage odors that came with them. I then removed the agents and did a sniff test. Before we get into the results, a reminder: none of what I do is ever meant to be expert advice, as I am certainly not an expert at anything. Follow my methods at your own risk, and please first consult an actual antique expert conservator or restorer to detox items that have value for you. Okay, let's see how my experiment worked. Baking soda (left) did nothing to remove the odors. I think if I let it sit for a longer period of time it might have done something, but for a 24-hour test it was a complete fail. Coffee grinds (right) removed 100% of the odors, and left behind definite coffee scent. I like that and think it goes very well with wood, but if you don't like the smel

While Kat was visiting last month we stopped by our local no-kill cat shelter to make a donation and visit with the kitties. Happily there aren't as many cats at the shelter as in years past; I'll guess they've had many adoptions since the beginning of the pandemic. One beat-up little gray cat fell in love with my Kat. I was also very happy to see several people come in while we were visiting with donations of food and supplies for the shelter. I asked the lady running the place if she could use some quilts, and she was very happy about the chance to get some fresh bedding for the kitties, so now I have to get together some quilts to donate. I spent a happy half-hour petting this little guy, who fell in love with me. Although we are maxed out on pets I'll go back soon to visit him again.

There are hundreds of ways to detox the smell out of vintage items. I like laundering by hand most; I'm able to remove storage odors from fabric (and even get stains out of yarn) with a mild detergent and a strategic soak in a vinegar solution. There are some things, however, that you can't wash or even get wet, like my lot of old cigar boxes. So I decided to do an experiment and use five different ways to detox the smell out of nonwashable items, so I could judge which worked best for me. Some disclaimers: none of the boxes actually stink, but collectively they do have a bit of an old tobacco/storage odor, all about the same degree, too. I don't want to damage or ruin the boxes so I did not soak my materials whenever I used a liquid detoxing agent. All the methods I'm using are variations of my own ideas that I came up with while researching the methods others use. Finally, none of what I do is ever meant to be expert advice, as I am certainly not an expe

While Kat was visiting we went one night to walk a mall that I haven't personally visited in about ten years, and there was still a B. Dalton bookstore there. So of course I had to buy something! Ha. In keeping with my old lady love of everything cute I invested in this crochet kit that makes two puppies. Go ahead, snicker. I could instead be fond of explosives, and then a lot of people would be in trouble. Also impossible to resist: the winter issue of Greencraft magazine. Finally I got this sewing book because it has no patterns, and one project I need to make for my new set of crochet hooks. I had a wonderful time at B. Dalton, too, so we might have to visit that mall again before 2034. :)

I have been looking around for a couple of months to find some smallish, sturdy boxes to thrift for a project, with no luck until I found this lot of vintage cigar boxes. One is made of wood; the rest are cardboard. I'll be detoxing the cgar smell out of them for a few weeks before I get into that project. Run a search for vintage cigar boxes and you'll see how these can run anywhere from $10.00 to $50.00 or more for really rare boxes; I paid $12.91 for all five. This is my nicest thrift haul to date for 2024: a home supply lot with all brand-new items. The cookie press alone is worth $14.99, which is what I paid for the entire lot. I thought the dash cam was a car mount for one, but it's actually a neat little cam and the mount. This flood light also came with the lot; my guy grabbed it and put it out in the garage as its a type that he uses all the time outside. It retails for $14.99 new. After looking up the prices for everything else I discovered I&#