Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Random Tuesday: Thrifting, Fabrics, and Cross Stitch

I haven't done a "thrifting post" in a while.  Confession: I am a die-hard yard sale fanatic.  My parents raised six kids on one income and stretched their pennies by buying second-hand.  As I was growing up, I hated it.  But now I am converted and I have experienced the fun of finding various treasures while saving a lot of money.  I always look for sewing items but I try to be selective because I do not need to take home every ugly fat quarter I see.  The good things I find now and then include new pillow forms, polyester stuffing, zippers, the occasional quilt top, fun vintage fabric, and once I found an awesome vintage sewing machine

Anyway, I have started going to yard sales here in Colorado and it's been awesome.  This area is so dense with people (admittedly a negative in many ways) - and these people move A LOT (there are four military bases here)- so there are always moving sales and people eager to lighten their load.  

A few weeks ago, I picked up this vintage quilt top for $1.  It is quite well done and well preserved: no holes or open seams.  It's just a shame that the maker used such a busy fabric as sashing.


I've picked up a few odds and ends at different sales.  The apple/pear fabric was free.  The rest of the stuff, all together, was about $4.


Anyway, I am continuing to plug along at my Jacob's Ladder quilt but it's really tedious.  I finally did find that 2D Zoo fabric I was looking for on Etsy for only $7 per yard and free shipping.  The selvedge says "2003" - so no wonder it was hard to find!  I am still racking my brain on what pattern to choose to make my friend a sweet baby girl quilt with these fun zoo-themed prints.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know!


My sister is living with us until her job restarts with the school year in mid-August.  It's awesome having her around.  It's been a while since I've shown off some of her amazing cross stitch creations.  The "hip" piece is for a friend of hers that is a physician's assistant.  My kids are fighting over who gets the other piece.


 Thanks for reading!

2 comments:

Sarah Fredette said...

Hurray for yard sales!!! :D Are you looking to do a more complicated pattern for the baby quilt, or something quick and easy? Something like an economy block with a few solids added in could really show off the cute prints and not be too time consuming, especially if you did the larger version.

MalinisQuilts said...

These are some great finds! Oh my, your sister is really a awesome cross-stitcher. My kids would love the FROZEN cross-stitch for sure.

Here is one baby quilt suggestion. I think this will go pretty fast.
I always wanted to make a quilt with this pattern by mixing solids and prints:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC-0T5lXw4