Skip to main content

The Why of Thrift

This is a sock lot I thrifted for $7.99. There are 57 pair of socks (plus a nice pair of slippers that I forgot to put in for the pic) and they're all brand new, never worn. That's fourteen cents a pair, which is the best price I will ever pay. Because I walk several miles every day I wear out socks in a few months. Thrifting instead of paying retail just makes sense.

I don't often buy vintage quilts in need of repair, but the $7.99 I bid on this old beauty and the very minimal damage made it a painless purchase. Yes, it's made of mostly polyester, and it will never win any awards. It's not about that. It made me happy to acquire a quilt like the one I spent many years repairing for Mom.

I needed some new notebooks; thrifting got me this lot of eight for $7.99. That's cheaper than the dollar store, and I kept these eight from ending up in a landfill.

Not everyone likes to thrift, and I get that. You don't know where it's been, and it might seem squicky. But my socks are brand new, and my notebooks are just as nice and useful as anything I could buy retail. I think all old quilts deserve to be preserved and reused, even the ones that aren't especially valuable. That I didn't have to pay through the nose for any of the above is just an extra bonus.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodwill Gamble #2 Arrives

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...
1 comment
Read more