We have been busy with everyday things here this week. Meetings, a concert at school, an academic honors event, cross country practice, homework, groceries, dinner making, baking cookies and muffins, making applesauce, staying out of the rain, and that sort of thing.
I have also done some custom quilting
and added to my Little Red Hen book collection.
I think a spiffy pink cape and blue clutch purse might improve my next trip to town. What do you think?
I finished the spider web quilt a week ago but have not had a chance to take good photos of it. It has been a rainy and cloudy week. Fall has really set in; when I got up yesterday my sewing room was 59 degrees. I have been snuggling under the new quilt instead of photographing it. So, today I'll have to share something else.
These are my scores from the rummage sale last weekend. I know what you are thinking. I need them like a hole in the head. If I do nothing but knit for the rest of my life I could never knit them all. I don't even think I could knit one thing from each book or booklet that I own. Like vintage children's books I have a weakness for vintage needlework books.
I do think I'll try some of those mitten designs.
What is your weakness? Do you have something you keep collecting? What do you run across a rummage sale to snatch just before someone else picks it up?
I'll try to get some pictures of my quilt after the cross country meet tomorrow. Otherwise you just may be seeing photos of sweaty, tired, teens. Here's hoping it's a sunny day.
I went to a garage sale and a rummage sale this weekend. The garage sale was at the home of a retired school teacher. I made some great purchases there.
Some old readers:
They will be perfect for P as her reading skills improve.
I love the pictures in them.
There is family fun indoors and out.
These books will be great for sing alongs. Again, the illustrations are super.
I also got this super little cookbook for some fun in the kitchen.
What will we make first?
Just before leaving the sale I picked up this book.
It has little color prints of paintings along with observations and questions.
I can't wait to sit and look at this more thoroughly.
I also purchased a bunch of paperback chapter books and some other things that I will save for gifts for P later.
At the rummage sale I found a big bag of perle cotton thread, some vintage iron on embroidery transfers, a bunch of children's dresses sewing patterns and some fun old knitting books that I'll probably share another day. I didn't know if you could handle any more vintage book photos today. The two stop haul was almost too much for me to believe. I was feeling pretty great about it. Then my neighbor came over and asked if I had been to the auction up the road. He said there was a lot of antique furniture there. Perhaps I should have gone there too. I need a new book case or two to hold my new books.
June brings great things each year such as summer vacation, fresh local strawberries, three family birthdays, bare foot weather, new baby chicks, and the highly anticipated Mother of all Rummage Sales. I kid you not; this sale is HUGE! We have learned to attend this sale with a wish list. We plan out which "department" to visit first based on the priority of the items on the list. When the boys come along we can divide and conquer.
I am not sure what I am going to do with these orange crates but I had to have them.
Look at the labels!
This morning P and I went to Ann Arbor to exchange a couple of Christmas sweaters, then we went to the thrift stores. I thought I would share a few of our finds. The little eyelet dress will fit P this spring I think. She says she would like it in a different color. No surprise there. I did notice after we got home that it is missing buttons and a sash. Perhaps they could be pink. I don't have any idea what I'll do with that knitting ribbon; it just jumped in my bag. I am sure you know how that is. The singer zigzagger will be fun to try on one of my old machines.
We also picked up some old sheets and a fairly large doily. The doily is raveling in a few places so I'll use it to spiff up my shopping look by making a shopping bag from Jessica's Dilly Doily Bag Tutorial. Zig zagging the edge should keep the doily from raveling anymore - and it could be really fun if I use the old zig zag attachment to make the bag!
I was pooped after two thrift shops so we came home for lunch and a nap (for P).
This was the weekend of the BIG rummage sale. We look forward to it every year. This is the kind of sale where you can go with a shopping list and usually get everything on it. It is held in a school where they use the gym, the cafeteria, the entrance, and the halls, outdoor items are on the lawn. D. and I got there 10 minutes before they opened and the line was all the way to the back of the school. People know the layout of the sale from past years and when the doors open the line moves quickly as the people disperse to shop. D was looking for a bike but could not find one large enough for him; he's tall. He did find a nice tripod for me.
I spent a long time in the book hall and filled a bag there. I also found an old washboard that I will use for felting. My favorite find was a set of seven linen dish towels. They are embroidered with the days of the week.
They have never been used! I will wash them, but, I don't know if I can get myself to use them. I think I'll just use them as a reference for what to do each day. Tomorrow is laundry day. I should have cleaned on Friday.
edit:
This is what we should do each day of the week:
Monday - wash clothes
Tuesday - iron
Wednesday - sewing/mending
Thursday - market
Friday - dusting/cleaning
Saturday - baking
Sunday - rest/look out the window
Yesterday was our first garage sale day. We actually didn't go out until 2 in the afternoon on our way to pick up our trees from the Soil Conservation Service. (50 Christmas trees and 100 other seedlings).
I wasn't expecting to find much but a barn sale yielded a stack of old children's books and readers:
and this beauty still in its case.
Not that I needed another typewriter, mind you, but it was only $5. How could I pass that up! Now, P and I can play secretary together. The sad part is that the new ribbon will probably cost more than the typewriter.
I like to make cookies. With this tool, I can make 6 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in under an hour! I have this recipe down to a science. Really. This 1 1/4 inch scoop makes the scooping go very fast. I can quickly make 6 staggered rows of 4 cookies on the baking sheets. I load the second tray while the first is baking. When the third tray goes in the oven I wash everything up. Total time in the kitchen after the butter is soft is less than one hour.
When I am not in a hurry, I can make fancy cookies. These are especially fun with a large collection of great cookie cutters. I picked these up years ago at a rummage sale.
I get them out every spring. P and I recently made some sugar cookies with these.
I have found that I like making roll out sugar cookies a lot better than I like eating them. Perhaps next time we should make some art clay like the box suggests.
You can see some of my other favorite cookie cutters here and the gingerbread man shapes here.
When I was newly married, twenty years ago, one of the tricks I learned from B's mother was how to make whipped butter. The recipe called for butter, margarine, and vegetable oil. You let it get soft and then whip it in the mixer until it gets white and fluffy. It is then easier to spread on bread. There is also the theory that with all the air whipped in you use less. I am not so sure on that one.
I still like the whipped butter. Last year we eliminated shortening and margarine from our diet so I have adjusted the recipe. I now use one pound of butter and a half cup of olive oil.
I like the way the butter looks in these vintage jelly jars. I found a whole box of these at a garage sale a couple of years ago.
Years ago I found this great little baby blanket at a thrift shop. It is made from two feed sacks. I love the feel of it and the soft pink color. I had it stored away with other fun finds until P was born. This blankie is one of her favorites. 
The back shows where it was tied in a heart shape and also has initials. It makes me wonder about who originally owned this blanket and how it ended up in a pile of discarded items in a thrift shop. I am pleased to give it a second life.
I will also share this little cotton washcloth I made for Valentine's day.
The pattern is here.
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