More of My Thrifting Finds...

Quote for the Day:

"If saving money is wrong, I don't want to be right."

- William Shatner

Last night it was snowing and seemed unusually cold.  So guess what ended up on our bed???

That's right...one of our quilt acquisitions from this weekend!  :)  This is actually the SECOND time we've slept under it...

See, I HATE HATE HATE those shiny, slippery, polyester, gag-me ugly bedspreads that most motels use on their beds.  I pull them off and throw them on the floor and just turn up the heat when I find those horrid things.  

We had already purchased our quilt finds when we checked into our motel.  Without seeing the room I thought we'd possibly find one of those butt-ugly bedspreads on the bed, so I suggested to Andy that we should take one our quilts up and use it instead.  When we got into the room, we found that there was actually a very nice cotton spread on the bed.  Since we had brought it in from the car, we decided to go ahead and throw our quilt over the top of their spread and use it, anyway.  :)

You can see that it's a little small for our bed, but it works just fine to add another layer of warmth!  (The outer border of the quilt is gold, so the red you see below the gold is actually another quilt underneath it.)

As I was unpacking the rest of our thrift store finds from our weekend shopping spree, I thought I'd take some more pictures to share with you.

These are the dresser scarves that I got for $1-3/each...

On the far right of the bottom picture is actually a "single" pillowcase that I found for 99¢.  There is no embroidery on it, but look at that spectacular crocheted edging!!!

Hey...it even matches our new quilt!  LOL  That last picture also gives you nice look at the pretty hand quilting in the quilt!  :)

And, last, but not least, we've been looking for a nice rug for under the coffee table for a while now, but none had put themselves in my path.  Until now...

For some reason, the picture doesn't do this baby justice.  It looks faded in areas in the picture, but believe me, the colors are rich and beautiful and it has no areas of wear.  It is 100% wool, hand-knotted, made in India.   The fringe on the ends is so soft, it feels like silk!   It is so plush that you just want to stand on it with your shoes off!  :)    (See...that's what Ginger is doing under the coffee table!   As for the covers on the sofa cushions...pet owners know why they are there...a feeble attempt to keep the dog hair out of the sofa cushions!  LOL)

Loretta

A Quick Get-Away...

Quote for the Day:

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

~Jodie Foster

Andy & I had to go to Ikea to pick up the new storage cabinets for my new sewing room.  Unfortunately, the closest Ikea is 2 hours away...in Pittsburgh, PA...so we thought we'd make a "trip" of it and enjoy ourselves!  
We left on Friday morning and returned Saturday afternoon.  We spent our time in Pittsburgh doing what we love to do...we went "thrifting"!   There's a site, http://www.thethriftshopper.com/, where you can go and put in the name of the town or the zip code, and it will give you a list of thrift stores in the area, complete with ratings from viewers!  :)   From there, I entered the addresses of thrift stores into Google maps and put them in an order that made best use of time and gas.  :) :)

We had a BALL!!!  I think we probably visited about 8 thrift stores and got some really cool bargains.  However, the prize for the day were these finds:

• Not ONE, but TWO, homemade, hand-quilted quilts in very good condition!
• And THREE SETS of hand embroidered and crochet-edged pillowcases in MINT condition!

Both of the quilts are full-size.  

Here's the first quilt...made fairly recently...I'm going to guess about 2005 from the fabrics, etc.  The stitches are nice and straight, very even and fairly small, done in a contrasting, dark thread.  And the price???  A whopping $20.00!!!  :)

The second quilt is probably a little older...probably from the 1980-1990's, from the fabrics and colors...pastel calicoes!  :)  It is also hand-quilted, but the stitches aren't quite as perfect as in the first quilt.  However, it is still quite good and I love the colors!!  Very Spring-like and I can't wait for Spring to get here!   There are a couple of places where the binding is coming loose and will need to be tacked back down, but that is no problem.   The price on this one was an astounding $13.00!!!  (Note the unusual border...scallops alternating with points!)

And now for the pillowcases...that were $5.00 per set.  They are in PRISTINE condition and look like they have been starched and ironed and languishing away in someones hope chest...never used.  

I collect vintage embroidered linens (dresser scarves and pillowcases) and I ACTUALLY USE them!  I don't use the pillowcases that come with sheet sets.  Instead I use the vintage ones that I pick up at thrift stores, yard sales, and auctions.  And truth be told...$5/set is the most I've ever paid for embroidered pillowcases.  I can usually get them for $1-$2 for an individual pillowcase, and only occasionally find a "set".   However, because these were in such perfect condition, I figured I'd "splurge" and pay a dollar or two extra for the set!  :)

I also picked up about 4-5 embroidered dresser scarves, but I didn't take a picture of those.  I really hit the mother lode of vintage embroidered linens this weekend!  :)

After our thrifting, we headed to Ikea and picked up the bookcases/shelving units that I need for fabric storage in the new sewing room.  This was the first time we'd been to Ikea, and I'm glad I did our "shopping" online and had already picked out what I wanted.  Otherwise, I'd still be wandering around that store.  That place is overwhelming!  

All in all, we had a GREAT get-away, just Andy & me.  (Ginger stayed with some friends so she had her own kind of vacation!)  

Loretta

It's Been a GREAT Day...

Quote for the Day:

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

~Herm Albright

Today turned from a stressful day to a GREAT day for me!  

If you know me or have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I've been dealing with lower right back pain for about 1.5 years now caused by significant arthritis in my spine.  The worst of it is in my lumbar spine, but I do have areas in my neck and thoracic spine, too.

Today I finally got my sacro-iliac joint injected!  It's been a long time coming...you know how the medical system is...referral...wait...appointment....more tests...wait...referral...wait...appointment...get scheduled for treatment...wait...etc., etc., etc.
Don't get me wrong, we are very blessed to have good medical insurance and care, but sometimes it just seems to take FOREVER to get to the final treatment!  

I was very nervous about having this injection because the only thing I've had injected until now were my heels to treat plantar fasciatis...and trust me...that was HORRIBLE!!!  I did get my primary care physician to order an oral Valium for me to take prior to today's injection, but quite frankly, after going through it, if I have to have it done again, I doubt I'll need pre-medication...it went that smoothly and was minimally painful.  Really, the only "pain" was the injection of the local anesthetic at the site...it felt like a "sting".  

The injection into the joint was done under fluoroscopy and the whole procedure took about 3 minutes from start to finish!  

I had almost instantaneous relief of about 80% of my pain.  I should enjoy even further pain relief over the next 24 hours as the steroid he injected starts to go to work.  :)  I was discharged with the instructions to "take it easy" the rest of the day.    Hmmmm...I hope that going out to brunch at IHOP and then a shopping trip to Goodwill fell into the definition of "take it easy"!  LOL

Prior to the injection, the shopping trip would have ended with me being in pretty bad pain, and may have even been brought to an abrupt end due to the pain.  But today, I had no pain or problems while shopping/walking!  

And to brighten my day even more, the Thrifting Gods were smiling on me today!  :)  It is difficult for me to find nice clothes at a thrift store because of my size.  If I find 2 things I feel lucky!  But today, not only did I find FIVE pieces of clothing...I also found neat quilty things!  How cool is that???

Now, remember...these items have not been washed, yet, so they are wrinkled from being in the bag...

First up is a Liz Claiborne shirt that still has the original tags on it...

A short-sleeved top from Chaps with crocheted lace neckline...

A nice CJBanks shirt...

A pretty, colorful sweater by American Sweater Co. and it's even made in America!!!  :)  Love that!

I also found this pair of Tommy Hilfiger capris!  :)

Then in the housewares section, I found not ONE...but TWO puzzles about quilts!!!  :D

A couple of years ago, for Christmas, my DS & DDIL, Paul & Trinity, gave me this framed puzzle for my sewing room.  

If I ever get these new ones put together, I can add them, too!  :)

I also found this "picture" for my quilting room.  (I look for pictures with quilts in them to hang in my quilting room, since I have more wall space in that room.)  This "picture" is about 12" square and is made from pieces of wood.  

As you can see, Lady had to check out what I had brought home!  LOL  The colors are very 80's...green and peach...but I might paint over the peach with another color...or I may leave it...don't know, yet.


Andy got some great things for resaling, too.  :)  


All in all...this day turned from stressful to blessedful!  (Okay...I just made up that word...but it rhymes, doesn't it?)


Loretta

Saturday, Oh Saturday...What a Day You Were...

Quote for the Day:

“Middle age is when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night and the telephone rings and you hope it isn't for you”

~Ogden Nash

Yesterday (Saturday) we had to go to PIttsburgh to take care of some business, so we decided to get an early start so we could go to some thrift stores while up there.  It's about 90 miles north of us, so we headed out about 8 AM.

As luck would have it, we also got our first snow of the season yesterday, making Route 119 north, the 2 lane road to get to the freeway, treacherous to travel!  :( 

After going about 10 miles on this road, we were the first people to come upon an accident.  The poor lady had spun out and ended up in the opposite ditch, facing the direction she had come from, her Honda Element now resting on it's passenger side.   She was wearing a seatbelt and it held her suspended firmly in place.  Because the car was up on it's side, she could't get out either door.  Soon after we stopped, another car containing two nurses on their way home from working night shift in Morgantown....a male and a female.  The male nurse and Andy were able to tip the car so it was back on all four tires, albeit, still at about a 70 degree angle so the driver still couldn't climb out of the driver's side.  However, she was able to climb out of the passenger's front window!  We helped her up the steeply banked ditch and let her come sit in our warm car while we waited for help to arrive.  The other couple that stopped to help then left and continued towards their nice warm beds.   One other guy in a pickup did stop to see if we needed anything, but by that time everything was under control.

The first emergency responders to respond to our 911 call were two volunteer firemen, each in their own personal vehicles.  One of them had still been in bed when he got the call!  :)

You can't really see it, but her car is just ahead and to the right of the fireman in the yellow vest.  Since the car was dark blue and all I had was my lousy camera phone, you really can't see the car.   

Thank you to other couple that stopped to help and God bless the volunteer firemen...and not just these two...but all who volunteer their services to help others.

What astounded me was how fast people were speeding down this road that was slippery with wet, slushy snow...even as they were passing by an accident and people on the side of the road.  My pant legs got splattered with road slush more than once from  people barreling down that road while we were there.  :(  

People, if you see an accident and persons along side the road, please, please, please SLOW DOWN so they don't fear for their lives!

After that excitement, we continued on to Pittsburgh, passed a house fire that firemen were working on, and found where we needed to go to take care of the "business" part of our trip.  

After taking care of everything, we found a place to eat lunch and then  programmed thrift store addresses into "Jill", our GPS unit, and headed out to see what we could find!  :D  (I had found a site online that you can put in a zip code and it will compile a list of thrift stores in the area, with addresses and hours of operation!)

We hit  four thrift stores and came out with some great bargains!  Some to keep, some for other family members, and some to resell.  

Here are just SOME of the items that we bought to "keep"... a pair of Hush Puppies leather, sheepskin-lined, ankle boots for me...$2.00!!!  A winter jacket for Andy...$3.00!!  Two Liz Claiborne tops for me...$5.00 total!!  Three matching woven throw rugs...$1.99 each!!!  (You can never have too many rugs!)  :)  Four mugs and a cheese server/dish with matching spatula...all of them are part of my Pfaltzgraff Winterberry Christmas dish set...$5.00 for the 4 mugs and cheese dish/spatula!!  (BTW, Andy got me these dishes...a place setting for four...for $5.00 at a yard sale!  I've been looking for more to go with them since then but this is the first time I've found any!) 

Oh...and one more item that we found....

Yep...that's right...a vintage, full-sized, hand-embroidered, hand-quilted quilt!!!!!!  It was VERY yellowed from age and had some spotting from storage...but I've bought enough vintage linens at auctions and sales to know that a good soaking in Oxi-clean will remove those stains and yellowing!  And it sure did in this case!!  Isn't it GORGEOUS!!!

I soaked it overnight last night and this is what it looks like this morning...

There is no label on the quilt, but in the doorway of the house it is handwritten in blue marker, "The Hamill's".

The hand quilting is 8 stitches per inch...a very respectable quilting job!

Oh...and the price???  $24.95!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  By the way...there are no pulled threads or other signs that this quilt has ever been used!!

I don't know who the "Hamill's" are, but shame on them for getting rid of this beautiful heirloom and disrespecting the person who put so much time, labor and love into this beautiful quilt.   Their ungratefulness is my gain!!!  

Two other people picked this quilt up and looked at it, but turned their noses up at it because of the "stains".  However, when I looked at it, I recognized that the "stains" were not really "stains", per se, and would come out with an Oxi-Clean soak.  However, even if they hadn't come out, I would have loved it either way!

Loretta 

She's One "Happy Baby"...

Quote for the Day:

“A thunderstorm is God's way of saying you spend 

too much time in front of the computer”

~author unknown

I had the good fortune of getting a new computer this past week!  I am so happy with it for several reasons...first one being that the old computer was 7 years old and limped along SLOWLY!  (Picture an old man with a cane walking VERY VERY slowly.  Yep.  That's what using my old computer was like!)   This new one FLIES!  In fact, sometimes I have trouble keeping up with it!  LOL

 

The other thing I like about this new computer is that it is an "all-in-one" so there is no tower.  All of the "innards" (highly professional term there, doncha know) are in the back of the monitor.  Do you know how much real estate this clears up on the desk?  There is only 1 cord attached to the computer...the power cord.  Everything else is WIRELESS!  YAY!   

 

Oh...and the monitor is 23" and has touch technology!  Am I screaming hot or what?  You know you want it!  LOL

 

 

All of this...thanks to my daughter who works at Dell and let me use her employee discount...coupled with the President's Day sale...and I'm now a technologically, up-to-date Happy Camper!

 

Yes, Folks...this is where all the "brilliance" happens...my desk...for all the world to see!

 

I still need to hook up the new wireless printer that was "free" with the purchase of the new computer, so that will take up the free space in front of the window to the right of the computer.  

 

I am still "learning" Windows 7 since my old 'puter had XP.  Windows 7 is actually pretty easy to "use"...it's just trying to find things once you've downloaded them...  

It's a learning curve...but slowly I'm getting it!  :)  

 

As for decluttering...I've already given the tower to my daughter-in-law.  She's gonna see if she can get it up and running better either for her use or for little Andrew to use.  (Yes, Folks, kids that young are learning to use computers!)

Here is the old monitor and printer that I will be getting rid of...

 

 

And, yes...even though she is old, I will be keeping the dog!  LOL  She loves to lay near me, where ever I might be.  She's like my shadow...only smaller!  :)

 

And then there is this bulletin board that I've decided I don't need anymore.  It sat on top of the old computer tower in the corner.  It really was not handy to use, so basically, it was useless because it was too hard to reach/use.   

 

So since I haven't used it in over a year, it's time to "release it into the wild".  I'll put it on the yard sale this summer.  :)

BTW...did you notice the picture above the desk?  

 

 

I got it at a Goodwill in Georgia about 2 years ago for $8.48...already matted and framed!  It is a print titled "Christmas Angels" by John Malnic.  Even though it's a "Christmas" print, I leave it up all year because it is a beautiful piece of art.

The brass lamp with glass shade on top of the desk to the right of the picture was also a Goodwill find...$2.50, I believe.  The silver (and VERY HEAVY) picture frame to the left of the hanging picture was also a Goodwill find...$1.00.   I have a picture of my grandchildren in it.  :)

 

Yes, my home is decorated with many, many thrift store, yard sale and auction finds!   You would be amazed at what you can find used in good shape for a fraction of it's original cost if you just keep your eyes opened.  Saving $$$ is always a good thing!  :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and tell me what you have "released into the wild" recently.

Loretta

More Goodwill Finds...

Quote for the Day:

"Frugality without creativity is deprivation." 

~Amy Dacyczyn

Yesterday I had my routine 6 month dental appointment before work.  When it was over I still had about 1/2 hour before I had to head over to the hospital for work, so since I was in the area I decided to drop into the Goodwill for a quick run-through.

It was my lucky day!  :)


I found these two stretch bracelets in the "junk jewelry" bin on the counter...59 cents each!  They are both quite beautiful in person and the beads alone are worth WAY more than that!    The silver beads on the silver and black bracelet just sparkle and the beads on the earth tone bracelet have the most amazing, beautiful designs and detail!  :)

You are going to have to trust me that they are both very beautiful in person.  I am using Picassa photo editor until I get my new computer (should be arriving today) and I can't get the photos edited right.  I lightened these photos to show the details better but the edit didn't "save".  Let's just say that I HATE HATE HATE Picassa photo editor!  :(

The white background I used to photograph the bracelets was my second find of the day at Goodwill...a HUGE, vintage, perfect-condition linen table cloth!  I didn't have a tablecloth big enough to cover my dining room table when all the leaves were in it....but now I do!  *big smile*  And it only set me back $3!  Now that kind of price I can handle!  :)

This picture only shows 1/4 of it!  And of course it is wrinkled from being in the bag after purchase...but you get the idea!   

I love it when I can find neat things like this for CHEAP!   I heart thrifting!  :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  Please come and visit again soon!

Loretta

Goodwill Find...

Quote for the Day:

Design flaws travel in groups. 

- Fifth Law of Design

I love love love it when people feel the need to change their housewares and decor just because it's a new season, fad, etc.   Said people then donate their "old" items to a thrift store like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc., where frugal people such as myself pick them up for a "song" to use in my home!  

Thus, the "circle of life" continues for perfectly good household items!

That's how this shower curtain came into my life for a mere $2.50...

Pretty, huh?  It has a design around the sides and bottom that look like a trellis with little flowers on it.

So pretty!  :)  And the curtain is in excellent shape!  :)

HOWEVER...there is a serious design flaw with the flowers.  They are only sewn onto the curtain via the middle of the flower.  Therefore, when I washed and dried the curtain, all the little flowers folded up into little "balls" and needed to be ironed flat.

Now...if I have EVER given you ANY reason to think for one moment that I am the kind of little "Suzy Homemaker" that actually IRONS her shower curtains...I am truly sorry for misleading you!  :(

Alas, I did iron it THIS TIME because I wanted to hang it up after cleaning the shower in prep for upcoming company this week.  However, the wheels in my head are whirring away trying to think about how I can fix it so it won't need ironing in the future.  

The flowers are very pretty and go with the trellis theme so I don't really want to just remove them.  I'm thinking about removing them and adding some embroidered flowers with my embroidery machine, but I'm not sure how my embroidery machine will handle the raised "trellis" cording.   Well...I suppose if it doesn't embroider well I'm only "out" $2.50!  :)

Anyway...for now it is hanging in the upstairs bathroom looking very pretty with it's cute, little  ironed flowers!  :)

Paul & Trinity & little Andrew are due to arrive tomorrow (Wednesday) and Erin, Dale, and Sera are due to arrive on Thursday!  They are all coming home to help Andy celebrate the big "Six-Oh"!  (We're all hoping the kidney stone saga will be over by then!  At this point we are still waiting for him to give birth to that 3 mm baby!)

Even though my cleaning schedule was blown to smithereens by the 7-8 hour Emergency Room visit on Saturday, I can assure you that eventually the house did get cleaned!  I didn't think it would happen, but we made it through and got it done!


Some things got "released into the wild" during the frantic house cleaning, but I was just too busy to stop and take pictures to share.  So you'll just have to use your imagination! 
 
For the next several days I will be busy hugging grandchildren, playing Wii & Scattagories with my family, fixing and enjoying family meals, enjoying my children, celebrating Andy's birthday, and, in general, having a blast!

Thanks for stopping by.  Pl.ease leave a comment to let me know you were here and tell me what you have "released into the wild" recently.  :)

Loretta