Treasure Hunting...

Hello!  :)

I've been wanting to share my latest Thrift stores finds with you for a couple weeks now but just didn't get the chance to photograph them. Now I have! I was real excited when I came home from my favorite Thrift Store a couple weeks ago.  :)

This was my first find . . .

It's a four piece salt and pepper set complete in box. It's made by F.B. Rogers Silver Company.

It's so awesome! I love it and the color of the felt lining in the box . . . aqua my fav!  :)

Here's a close up of one of the shakers . . .

And the cobalt blue shaker with the silver cover removed . . . 

Did I tell you I collect salt & pepper shakers? I do! What a wonderful addition to my collection. Guess how much I paid . . . only $3! What a deal!  :)

Here's the other really fabulous piece I found . . . 

It's a Westmoreland Paneled Grape Milk Glass Dish with lid. It is hand painted with roses, flowers and ribbons. It's absolutely beautiful!

See all the details . . .

I didn't even know these existed. I just thought it was a cool milk glass dish that someone hand painted. Turns out that there's a whole collection of these that were hand painted from the manufacturer. Now I want more!  :)

I paid a little more than I wanted to for this because it is so beautiful. By the way when did the Thrift stores all start having "boutique" sections? I remember when everything was all lumped together and really inexpensive. I paid $22 for this piece. Yes it's not too bad. It's what they are going for on Ebay. I do prefer paying much less for finds like this, don't we all?! I am glad I didn't pass it up.  :)

Of course I picked up some more vintage and recycled sheets & pillowcases.

I love the red one. Lots of fabric there to use on many projects. Take a closer look at this fabric . . .

There are two of these pillow cases. They are really pretty with vibrant colors. I love them! I can't wait to use these in a table runner.

Can't wait to see what I find next!  :)

Until next time . . .

A Great Find!

Hello!

Guess what I found a couple of weeks ago while thrifting?

Do you know what it is?

It's a sewing box! I saw it and snatched it up. It was love at first sight!  :)  Then I turned it over and it was only $5.97! AND I got it for 50% OFF of that!!! What a great deal!  :)

I took it home, cleaned it up and filled it with my perle cotton stitching threads.  :)

It has lots of knicks and scratches . . . but I don't care. I love it anyway!  :)

That just means that it's been used and loved! It has character and now it's all mine!  :)

Until next time . . .

Christmas Gifts Progression. . .

Hello!  :)

I've been a busy bee over here.  :)  On Sunday I went and got the thread I needed to finish the last pair of Jammie pants. I also put the elastic in all of them and stitched them closed. All 6 pairs are officially finished!  :)

I still have two more Christmas presents to finished in the next two weeks (actually less than that now!). I need to make two twin size quilts. Sunday after I finished the jammie pants I cut the fabric for my oldest son Jay's quilt. I can share it with you now because I haven't told my older kids I have a blog yet. I will do so at Christmas.

Anyway . . . I'm going to back up a little bit. I knew I wanted to make both of my older kids quilts for Christmas this year. They both live at their Grandfather's house (on their father's side). He doesn't have a working heater and I know they could use something to keep them warm. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do for my daughter Jessica's quilt but I had no idea on a theme or color scheme for Jay's quilt. Then all of the sudden it hit me. Hawaiian! He loves Hawaii and all things Hawaiian, beach themed, etc. I go to thrift stores all the time and began looking for cool Hawaiian shirts to use for his quilt. There were lots of beautiful shirts in all kinds of fabrics but I stuck with the 100% cotton ones. I forgot to take pictures of the shirts while they were still shirts (sorry). There's actually quite a bit of fabric in the shirts, especially the 5x one I found. I couldn't believe I found one so large. Anyway . . . In the picture below you can see the squares already cut from the shirts in a circle (ignore the center fabrics for now).

For the quilt I'm using Amy Smart's Lattice Quilt pattern that I got from her Bits and Bobs Etsy shop. I laid out the fabric squares in a pleasing arrangement.

Then I labeled them and stacked them up ready for sewing.

Before I continue I'll share the sashing, border and backing fabrics I chose to use.

The fabric on the bottom is a really cool sheet I found while thrift store shopping for the background. I love it! The blue fabric is a wonderful Hawaiian batik print I found to use for the second border and the cornerstones. It really ties all the fabrics together. I'm using Kona Cotton in bone for the sashing and first border. I think I'm going to use a black batik for the binding but I haven't gotten it yet.

On Monday the quilt top sewed up pretty quickly. Amy has great instructions. When I finished sewing it I laid it out on the floor to view it. I actually squealed in delight and jumped up and down. I was very happy with it! It was great satisfaction after a long day sewing.  :)  This is only the second quilt top I have ever made.

Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat.  :(  I have been pushing myself pretty hard to get these things finished up before Christmas. After I took my son to school I came home and went back to bed for a few hours. It helped. I woke up without a sore throat but now I have a cold. Oh well. Someday I'll learn to take care of myself better. :)

I did manage to get the borders on the quilt top today. I'm very happy with the results! The blue really brightens it up but not too much. I think I made the right decision in using the same blue for the cornerstones. It really carries the colors throughout the quilt to complete the look.

What do you think? Do you like it? Does it look masculine enough? Here's another view. . .

Tomorrow I will cut the fabric's for Jessica's quilt and get it started. As soon as I have both tops finished I'll sandwich them and hand quilt them. I've never hand quilted before but I think I can do it. I love embroidery. Isn't it similar? If anyone has any pointers, tips, tricks, suggestions please share them with me. I'm hoping to be able to start quilting them by this weekend. By the way, what color (or colors) would you use to quilt Jay's quilt? I just can't figure it out. I appreciate all the help and advice I can get! Thanks! :)

Until next time . . .

Tuesday's Treasures!

Hello!  :)

Hope you're doing well today!  :)

As promised I'm here to share my latest Thrift Stores treasures with you. I managed to find a lot of sheets this past weekend as well as a few other treasures.

Let's start with this find . . .

Yes! It's a vintage Christmas Tablecloth!!! Isn't it awesome?!!! I absolutely love it! It's so perfect and beautiful! I love vintage tablecloths!  :)  I'll have to show you my collection some time.  :)

The next items were originally attached to a desk blotter. They are porcelain and really pretty!

I feel in love with these instantly and purchased the blotter so I could take these off and use them on a future project. Which project? Who knows. All I know is I have them for when I find the perfect item to put them on. I was kind of bummed when I removed them from the blotter as I accidentally dropped the top piece and chipped the corner. :(  I'm crafty though and I'm sure I can still find a use for it.  :)

On my adventures I came across 9 zippers for future bags.

Look at this . . . 

Doesn't it just look like the beginning of some aprons?!!! They sure would be quick and easy! It's actually a vintage valance. I just fell in love with it the minute I saw it and it's potential.  :)

Next is another valance that I thought would be perfect for an apron!  :)

It's much better in person. This picture just doesn't do it justice! Trust me!  :)

This next photo includes lots of Hawaiian prints . . . 

Wonder what I'll use these for? Hummmm . . .  Actually I know exactly what I'm using these for! I'll share more towards the end of November. :)

Now it's time to share my vintage, and more current (but not less fab) sheets . . . 

This first vintage one is the perfect color for my daughters quilt I'm making her for Christmas. The picture didn't come out too well. Actually a lot of the sheet pictures didn't come out so well . . . sorry.  :(

The next one reminds me of some tie-dyed shirts from the 60's. Love the colors!  :)

This next one is more modern but I love the colors of the stripes! I definitely can work with it . . . 

The next sheet reminds me of the color of candy necklaces. Remember those? I loved them!  :)

This next one is definitely vintage! Isn't it pretty?!!! I actually came across two flat sheets in this design . . . 

This next sheet looks really bad in the photo.  :(  It really is nice in person though . . . trust me!  :) . . .

Check out this one . . .

It's really out of focus, but oh so adorable!  :)  Don't you just love the monkeys?!!! They remind me of Curious George. Do you remember Curious George?

The next sheet was love at first sight! It's so awesome! Love the surfboards and hibiscus! It's so fun!  :)

The next one is actually a duvet cover. The flowers are really vibrant!

There is also trim fabric on this in a blue/teal batik. It's really vibrant in person! I really wish my photos came out better but this time they just didn't. Don't know exactly why. Please forgive me!  ;)

Better get going! Thanks for letting me share my treasures with you!  :)

Until next time . . .

Treasure Tuesday...

I managed to get to two thrift stores this weekend. I didn't find too much though. The first store had absolutely NOTHING! I couldn't believe it! Usually I find at least something I like... but there wasn't anything. Then I only found two items at the second store. Their linen racks were totally picked over. I've never seen them so sparse! I did manage to find one really pretty sheet. It's yellow with beautiful pink and lavender flowers. It also has a ruffle. It's in great shape!

The only other item I found is... yes... a salt and pepper shaker set! Surprise, surprise... lol!  :)  It is a special one though. It's one of those tourist sets that you get when you go somewhere. Guess what? It's from the 1974 World's Fair that was held in Spokane, Washington. Guess what else? I was there! I was so excited to find these! My grandfather lived in British Columbia, Canada and every year we used to drive in our motorhome to go visit him. In 1974 the World's Fair was going on in Washington and it was on our way so we stopped. I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember going there. Here they are...

I used to love going and visiting my grandpa in Canada. He lived in Burns Lake. He owned many acres of land with a large lake on his property. He lived in a log cabin built by a man with one arm (no not the man from the fugitive... lol!). There was no electricity or running water. There was a water pump in the house and a wood burning stove. And there was an outhouse outside. It was so primitive, but I still loved it! It was so serene and peaceful. We would go fishing, read, hangout and just talk. It was really nice! I miss it! We stopped going when I got in high school and I never went back or saw him again. My grandpa died a few years ago but his land's still there in the family. I hope I'll get back there someday to see it and visit my other relatives that still live in the area.

A couple of weeks ago I visited with my sister and she gave me some goodies. The first is a set of 12 fat quarters of "Christmas Traditions" by Windham Fabrics. She said it wasn't her style so she gave it to me. Total score! Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. Here's a couple of pictures of it...

My sister also picked up a few vintage sheets for me. They are awesome and much different than the ones I come across. The first one is white with orange, white and pink flowers and green stems...

The next one will go really well with the ones I have set aside for the project for my daughter. It has a green background with white flowers...

The next one is white with pink flowers outlined in black...

The last one is my favorite! It's white with sweet detailed pink roses with green leaves...

Isn't it awesome! I love it! Thank you Tammie for thinking of me and sharing your fabulous finds! Love you! :)  She also gave me some other awesome things that I'll share another day. For now take care of yourself and remember to smile!   :)

Until next time...
Cherise  :)