Thrifty or Nuts?

I haven't sewn at all since my last post. The polyester batting scraps are still laid on my sewing cabinet waiting to be sewn together.

If I haven't been sewing, what have I been doing? Well, DH and I just had our 33rd anniversary, and we went out of town for 5 days! It was great to spend some time together just the two of us, something that rarely happens around here. I read five books, relaxed in the hot tub, we drove all around northern AZ, and we went to thrift stores, lots of thrift stores. 

DD#3 was really needing some new clothes, and I found her about 2 dozen new shirts, and four pairs of shorts/capris. I bought the twins about a dozen new clothing items too. DD#1's family ended up with a couple dozen items as well. 

Now when I go on a big thrift store buying binge, I'm looking for clothes for family members, quilting fabric, and 100% cotton men's shirts to use for quilting. If I happen upon a vintage sewing machine or accessories I want, that may end up in the basket too.

If you have a Goodwill Outlet near you, and you are on a tight budget, try looking there for quilting fabric and 100% cotton item of clothing or bedding. I've bought duvet covers and sheets to use for quilt backs with great results. Any Goodwill store can net you some cheaper fabric, but the outlet stores are a whole other world of savings. We went to the one in Flagstaff, AZ, and you pay $1.69 per pound for clothing, and 50 cents per pound for linens.

Here I am with my shopping cart filled with goodies. How much for all of that? $86 That wasn't the only thrift store we went to though. I'm pretty strict on budget when I'm buying men's shirts for quilting. My personal limit is $2 per shirt. We went into some thrift stores that were asking $9 per shirt, and in those I didn't buy a thing. I went into one thrift store that charges $1 per shirt, and I picked out 14 shirts at that store. When I went to pay, I found out if you buy more than 10 items, they only charge half price, so I paid 50 cents per shirt!

I found a few pieces of yardage on my shopping spree. This is about 12 yards total, mostly flannels.

All tolled, I spent about $200, and I got 201 items for that. I let my SIL's go through the men's shirts and take whatever they wanted.

This is what I've got left right now. I'll probably pull a few shirts out for DH, but in this stack I have 97 shirts, all 100% cotton. I've already washed them, and they are ready to cut apart to use in quilting. 

Included in that 201 total, I found three sets of towels with matching bath mats for DD#3 to use when she gets married. I found something we're giving to my MIL for Mother's Day. DH bought a few cd's and a book. I found a buttonhole attachment for my slant shank Singers. 

Thrift store and antique stores are the only type of shopping I really enjoy. Going to a mall is torture for me, and all I see at those box stores is how everything looks the same. I'm not a trendy type of person, and I could care less what's fashionable at any given time. I like what I like, and if that's been out of fashion for 10 years or 70 years, makes no difference to me. You never know what you'll find at a thrift store or an antique store. The shop could be a dud, or a treasure trove. Of course, whether it's a dud or treasure trove depends on what you are looking for. Someone else's favorite shop may have little that interests me, and vice versa. 

I did find multiple vintage machines, a Pfaff that was really tempting, and a Singer 201 with perfect decals, a few Kenmore's and a couple badged machines I had never heard of. DH was willing to buy me a couple vintage machines, but I said no. I'm not expecting to have my sewing room back for another year, and while I'm sewing in my bedroom, it's harder to swap out machines. I am thinking come July or so, I should have quite a bit of quilting time again, so buying fabric wasn't as much of a no-no than buying more vintage machines. At least I'll have a chance at using some of the fabric soon. 

Now that I'm back home, I'm trying to figure out what to work on, when I have time to work on things. DD#2 and I are planning DD#3's bridal shower, and I have things to do for that. I am helping both DD#1 and DD#3 pack things, going through my stuff to see what I've got that can help them set up their own houses. 

Of course it's almost Easter, and we're hosting an Easter brunch at our house. I've already bought the goodies for Easter baskets, and the plastic eggs are already stuffed. We'll be dying eggs on Saturday, to be turned into deviled eggs on Sunday! I'm finalizing the menu and working on the grocery list for the holiday meal. 

It's really going to be a busy few weeks around here. I'm hosting Easter, throwing a big birthday bash and hosting a bridal shower all in the next three weeks. I'll have people moving in and people moving out, and hopefully, we'll have time to get the carpeting replaced during the chaos. I'll be rearranging the house in May, and figuring out what needs to happen for the new normal. Never a dull moment around here!