Friday night football games could be miserable – it’s still 80 degrees. Imagine all those pads and uniforms!
Reader photos
After this picture was taken I stuffed quilts wherever I could find a space which means I have not located the quilt with the bright blue binding yet. When I come across it I’ll post it. For now – I just don’t know.
It was a grocery day and I stopped at a thrift store, too.
Such fun!
P.S.
Alice Kolman, Salmon, ID – I am holding your check dated 9-2-25. Please contact me.
I love the Primitive Primer quilt, and so I spent some time looking for the pattern. Didn’t get lucky, but I’ll keep an eye out. And your teak bowl is wonderful!
We took our 7-year-old granddaughter to a big local thrift shop run by the Kiwanis group. She fell in love with a bright blue armchair that was $2. I told her I’d get it and drive it home for her if her mom said ok. Sadly, she didn’t get the blue chair.
Christine – oh, I wish she could have had the chair! Have you tried Jan Patek’s website first the pattern? It’s pretty old but she might still have it
Tom, you did a great job on your first quilt!
Your thrift shop purchases are wonderful, Mary. Thrift shops are the best!
Thanks/Take Care, 🥰
What a great thrift store you have! I love the cabinet just as it is, inside cleaned up. I love wood, and that piece looks like it has nice wood in it. The other finds are lovely!
Tom says thanks for all the kind words regarding his quilt! He’s still pondering the next one; meanwhile he is having to look into a new computer that will accommodate Windows 11 before his old one dies. I love the $10 cabinet/ cupboard thrift store find—what color are you thinking about painting it, Mary?
Tom, you did a really great job on your quilt. Enjoy the process of picking a design and fabric for your next one. Janice Traverse City
Dry and hot all over Iowa! It’s windy today. I am home from daily retreats and slept in. So much to put away in the sewing room. I am home 10 days. Ha A successful retreat. That Little guy Morty is so cute. Is he cuddly?
Fran – Morty isn’t real cuddly – he lets me pick him up but squirms to get down!
That was a good haul, Mary! I love the little Occupied Japan ceramic basket with the bamboo handle, so cute. Tom’s quilt is great; he will love doing a log cabin! I love the Primitive Primer Jan Patek quilt too. Morty is living the dream, isn’t he? The weather here is supposed to be really warm over this weekend and then cooling off. It’s Topsfield Fair time, so there will probably be some rain before it ends. There are always some miserable weather days during the fair, haha. I’m hoping the foliage is as nice as prior years, but it’s been so dry I kind of doubt it. We’ll see though, I thought the same thing last year and was pleasantly surprised.
Jan – oh, how I wish I could go with you to that fair!!! It’s going to be very warm here, too – almost 90!
I just read through the comments and got my answer. Sorry for not looking there first.
Ohh, Mary, I am in love with Morty! What a little doll! You are very lucky all the other pets don’t mind a new one!
Tom did a great job 👏 on his quilt! You sure found some treasures , what a great shop 😻
Our gob of hummingbirds has dwindled down to a few and sent you some good closeups. Made with my Sarah’s android with a better camera than mine.
Hi Mary – Great finds at the thrift shop! Can you tell me the name of the quilt in the picture with “E”? I love that one.
I finally have time to write about my sewing experiences. As a young kid I would watch my Mom sew on her treadle machine. She made dresses for herself and did lots of patching. I had sewing cards that I could practice on. Before I was very old Mom got an electric sewing machine and I also got a toy one that really sewed. I just had to turn the wheel manually. I also had an embroidery kit that I learned to do some stitches. Mom started making some of my clothes with the electric machine. Mom wasn’t too pleased with her Necchi machine and soon traded it for a Singer Golden Touch and Sew. That is the machine that I used when I started sewing in 4-H. I had several champions in my 4-H sewing. And I made a lot of my own clothes. It was easier to talk Mom into buying fabric than it was a ready made garment. In 7th grade Home Ec we were to make the 4-H style apron, but if we had already done that, we could use a pattern. I used a pattern and got an A+ on my apron. I don’t think the teacher realized that the hem of one of the ties was facing outward. 😊 In 8th grade we were to make a simple top and simple skirt. She okayed my pattern that had sleeves with cuffs, a collar, and pleats and a lining in the skirt. I finished in the same amount of time as those with the “simple” patterns. There were machines in 3 rooms in the Home Ec. department. I took care of keeping the machines running in the room that I was in. They were all Singer Touch and Sew, although not as high end as Mom’s. The problem was usually that the button was pushed to wind the bobbin. It was an easy fix. At a church supper someone asked me where I got a top I was wearing and my uncle was standing there and started laughing. He knew that I made most of my clothes. I had made the top, using 3 different patterns. During college I worked one summer in the local textile factory. It was an eye opener as to how clothing was made. I think I thought some machine did the work, but I operated a sewing machine like I had been doing at home. The differences, Mom’s had a knee control to run the machine and my factory machine had a foot control. It also had a knee control to raise and lower the presser foot. I quickly got use to that difference. The machine also ran much faster. The job paid minimum wage plus piece work. I got minimum wage of $1.60 an hour. I put in 13 dozen zippers the last day I was there. I would have had to put in 20 dozen a day to make any money with piece work. The next summer I didn’t go back, I was interviewing for my math teaching position. I got my own sewing machine from my soon to be exfiance. (That is another story.). He had joined a shopping club and had chosen the sewing machine as a free gift . Thanks! He was soon gone, but I had a Morse sewing machine that was a work horse. It lasted 20 years. Actually, it still works but the lever to make 4step buttonholes and blind stitch broke and the sewing machine repair person couldn’t get a part for it. I purchased a White machine. It was okay, but I liked the Morse better. When the White died, or rather I decided to not put money in its repair, I purchased a Janome in 2011 and it is doing well. I thought I would do more sewing after I retired from teaching but I have only made two tops for myself. I have made some clothes for my 3 grand daughters and their dolls. I forgot to mention, I did make a prom dress, bridesmaid dresses, and my wedding dress. My quilting journey started in the seventies with a Successful Farming special issue of crafts. I cut out templets from cereal boxes and used scraps to make the squares. I have the squares, I just need to sew them together and finish…..Someday. I went on a field trip with the school’s history club to Connor Prairie and purchased a quilting book. It told about quilts and had many patterns for blocks. When pregnant with my first daughter, I took one of those block patterns and made a quilt. I also made my maternity clothes. I made quilts for the granddaughters. Our church has a quilting group for charity. I cut out and sew the tops. I keep this real simple, I only use squares. I also help with extension homemakers projects. This summer I helped with a 4-H sewing workshop. The sewing/quilting journey has been a fun one for me. Enough rambling for one day. Enough your day. This weekend is the local town fall festival and it is a beautiful day for all the activities.
Loved reading about your sewing journey, Judy. Thank you for sharing! I can’t imagine making bridesmaids dresses and you made your wedding dress! Amazing. So nice that your church group quilts for charity, my guild donates to four charities. Such a good thing to do.
Now the ads I see between the comments are for wedding dresses. Ha-ha!
I enjoyed reading about your sewing journey, Judy.
No wedding dress ads, but lots of sewing machine ads and quilting t-shirts are popping up on my screen. Gee, I wonder why??? Much better than the “personal” products! So glad you changed the subject, Judy! Isn’t it amazing that we used to use templates to cut squares?! Kris in WI
PS–Thanks for the color block quilt idea, Tom. I have lots of donated orphan blocks and fabric to turn into LWR quilt tops and now I have a new idea of what I can do with it all. Have fun with the Log Cabin project! Kris in WI
Another PS–First I had ‘porch’ envy, then ‘clean window’ envy, followed by ‘geranium/corn stalk garland’ envy, now I’m suffering from ‘thrift store shopping’ envy. It’s been too long since I splurged on china, fabric, and books! Kris in WI.
PPS–Loved the sweet little Fostoria dish. 🙂
Kris – wish you could visit and we’d make the rounds of all the thrift stores. I don’t always find good stuff however.
What wonderful treasures you found at the Thrift Store!! Love them all. Morty is so adorable!! And that stack of quilts is priceless. Thanks for sharing Mary!
That teak bowl. Wow what a find. I have my grandma’s wooden bowl and I consider it a treasure! Are you liking the silicone stove mat? I think I somehow misunderstood its use. I generally do not rest anything on my stovetop unless I’m cooking so I’m trying to decide whether to make that purchase. Do you consider it useful?
Jean – the silicone pad protects the glass top when I’m not using the stove. I actually feel like I can relax and not worry about it getting scratched. I think it’s definitely worth $10.
Thanks Mary for that info. I’ll give one a try and see if I like it.
When I had a white cooktop, it was right beside the wall oven, so anything coming out of the oven got set on the cooktop, unless it was in use. It worked great. The black cooktop I have now screams at me if I place anything hot, or wet on it, unless the top is ‘locked’ off. I’ve gotten used to not placing anything on it, unless I’m cooking on it. I’m careful to buy pots and pans that have smooth bottoms, since lots of them have a lot of ridges that will scratch the cooktop. Even though you have to be careful with them, I wouldn’t buy anything else.
Jean, I am going to order two mats, for the stovetop and then a spare when I use my crockpot and electric toaster, it will protect my counter. Great idea, wished I’d known sooner to protect the glass cooktop that has scratches on it.
Correction, Electric Roaster.
What great finds! Love the teak bowl 😍 and kudos to Tom on his first quilt 🎉 love Morty on the quilt stack
Love all your thrift finds! Mary,what are some of your favorite thrift stores near you?
Congratulations Tom on your quilt, you are ready for log cabin!
Morty has truly moved in, he seems like he was meant to be there the whole time!
Terri – my favorite is Shop On State in Osage – yesterday I was at Exceptional Treasures in Algona. If anyone else has a favorite, please tell us in the comments.
We were in north Iowa for two days this past week. A friend took me to Debbie’s Quilt Shop in Osage. I was impressed. I was especially impressed by the help of the staff. Most staff try to steer customers to the most expensive equipment. The person helping us asked how my friend, who is new to quilting, would use her rotary cutter, how much she thought she would be cutting, and told her about types of blades and how long they typically last, etc. My friend walked out with new equipment that wasn’t the most expensive, but surely would meet her needs for a long time.
Back in Iowa City and it is garden and watering day. I can’t believe how dry we are!
Vicki – I agree Debbie’s is a great shop – my only concern/complaint is probably due to my age and eyes – there’s just not enough light. Ceilings are very high creating lots of shadows making it impossible to see the actual color of the fabric.
That pot looks like the one we both got at the antique store in Lilburn. I think we stopped on the way to the airport. That was a great store. I haven’t been there in a long time. I still have my pot.
Laura – I carried my cast iron dog in my lap all the way home! He is one of my very favorites, I honestly can’t remember the bowl. Can you show me yours? Oh, how I wish I could go back to that shop!
Wonderful treasures from the thrift store! And you Chinese Money plant looks so happy. I have a small one that I bought a month ago and I’m trying to find the best light for it.
Great photos! Love the Primitive Primer as well as the rest… you made quite a haul at the thrift store. My chorus is putting on a show in a couple of weeks; the stage/set is supposed to be a grandmother’s attic. I’ve been thrift shopping in my house – an old radio (it was my grandmother’s), a globe, an old Singer sewing machine (found at Goodwill years ago), an old fan (I remember it being used when I was a kid…), etc. The question is: why on earth did I volunteer these things when I’m the one who is going to have to load them in my car, haul them into town, and then repeat the process in reverse? LOL!
It’s warm here too – and going to stay that way thru Monday, I hear. It is cooling off at night, so the evenings have a fall feel. I agree – those kids must be plenty warm in all those football pads!
Gail – you volunteered to do that big job because you’re a good person and a team player. The chorus show will be better for your efforts.
Such great finds at the thrift shop! Love that Morty has made himself at home
What a nice 1st quilt Tom made. And ready for another-I think he’s hooked! Great finds at the thrift store. I see a blue binding on a quilt in the stack-apparently not the one you’re looking for?
Cindy – yes, I see it in the stack but can’t find it now. I think I’ll take pictures of the stacks of quilts I have everywhere but no, I won’t lay them all out to show. I don’t have the time nor energy.
The qui.t with blue binding, could it be a double 4-patch?
Sharon – doesn’t really matter what it is – I’m looking for that binding.
Synopsis of today’s post:
$10 – would be cute painted
E – $1.00
quilt – priceless
Teak bowl – $2
Occupied Japan – $2
Fosteria plant saucer – $3
Great quilt Tom! Love the colors! I think he is ready for a Log Cabin. The teak bowl and Occupied Japan bowl look brand new! Very pretty. The Americana fall quilt on the wall is so beautiful. It’s wonderful to see that Morty has made himself right at home.
What is the name of the quilt behind the E? Thanks
Deb – Primitive Primer by Jan Patek