Valerean

I'm bidding on three things this week, but they're not wannbuts -- they're things I wish I could own but that are likely going to be grabbed up by others. I still bid on them anyway because you never know. For example, I loved this quilt the moment I saw it, so I bid with my maximum upfront in hopes that I might win it. Since it is such a pretty quilt, I probably won't. This sewing machine looks brand new in the listing. Because I don't know if it needs repair, I only bid a small amount. If I win this one, and it works, it will become my light duty sewing machine. I also plan to lend it out to a neighbor who doesn't own one. New-looking machines generally get fought over quite a bit at the auction site. I confess, by the time I wrote this post I'd already been outbid on this gorgeous chest of Madeira thread. I'm not going to continue to bid on it, but I do want to see what it sells for. Stay tuned to the blog to find out if I get l...

The best way to purchase vintage textiles is in person, of course, but aside from thrift stores it's hard to find a brick and mortar dealing in such fabric, at least in my area. That's why I often shop online at Etsy, eBay and other sites. The biggest problem I've found with buying vintage fabric online it's sometimes hard to tell exactly what you're going to get. Sellers often stage their lots so they look attractive, and hide obvious defects that might put off buyers. There are ways to analyze the available pictures, however, and let them give you an idea of the true worth of what you might get. I recently bid in a ShopGoodWill.com auction for this big lot of miscellaneous fabric. The title of the lot was "16lb Lot of Fabric/Material, Precut Pieces & Projects, Quilting, Fleece, Variety". The photos from the auction listing also gave me some good clues. In this pic, which shows the entire lot, you can see a variety of prints and solids. In...