Just No Comparison

Louie and I went junkin’ today. I came home with lots of fabric. In this pile are three sheets that will be used either for quilt backings or cut up for fabric. There is also a woman’s skirt in there, because I liked the fabric. Bye bye skirt. And a table cloth, and a pillow case. It’s all fabric. This pile of fabric cost me $21.95.

The blue quilted fabric is double sided, and there is a yard and a half of it. I think that piece was $1.50. At the J store, it would be $20 a yard.

This piece is one of two. Someone made two valances. The pieces are 18” wide by 3 yards long. I can envision lots of fat quarters from those two pieces of fabric. I spent all evening picking the stitches out of them, but it was worth it.

Here’s a close-up. It’s pretty.

And THEN, I went shopping for background fabric for a quilt I want to make. I wanted a white or an off white batik, but no luck at any of the three stores I went to, so I settled for this, which is not batik, but I think will look pretty. I cringe at the price I paid for 4 yards of this. (The guilt will soon leave, I hope…)

Back to junkin’…I only paid $2.50 for this darling baby quilt. Someone put many hours in this quilt, and spent way more than $2.50 making it. I will find a good home for it.

…and look at this quilting! The quilt maker either quilted this herself, or paid someone to quilt it for her.  $2.50…. I hope whoever made this doesn’t find out it went to a thrift store.

Lingerie Chest & Janome L-344 Limited Edition

Ever since I found my first lingerie chest to put in my quilting room for storage, I have wanted another one. I had this narrow space right inside the door, and I thought that would work just perfectly. Today we went junkin’, and I went specifically looking for something that would fit into that space. I have been looking on Craigslist, and I have found a few, but by the time we make contact with the seller, it is gone.

We hit all the Goodwill stores on both the Iowa and Illinois side of the river in the Quad Cities, and we even hit West Kimberly Mall (an antique and consignment mall) in Davenport, with no luck. On the Illinois side of the river, we also went to Country Fair Mall in Coal Valley. We started on the total opposite side of the building, thinking that if we found one, it would be on that side. We went down each aisle and looked in each booth, and when we were nearing the very last aisle, I said, ’Well, I guess we aren’t going to….Oh look! It’s exactly what I was looking for!’ A lady near us said, ‘And at a very good price!’

Repurposed Valance=Thread Catcher

I found this valance at GW and knew I would repurpose it into something. I loved the colors.

I made this one for myself.  A girl just can’t have too many thread catchers, especially if she has more than one sewing machine, which I just might have….

‘Just Peachy’ Thread Catcher

Remember when ‘peach’ was ‘in’? Well, it probably isn’t so much now, but I made this for one of the gals in the Quilting Ministry that I visited last month. She had a blouse on much this same color, so I’m hoping she likes it. I know I do.

 

Quilted Market Bag for a Friend

I made a quilted market bag this morning for a friend’s belated birthday. I will give it to her tomorrow at work. I hope she likes it!

I like to put double pockets on the front for phone, keys, candy bar or whatever else they might like.