Score!

On Saturday, I sold some old and broken jewelry at one of those cash for gold places, and on my way home, I stopped at the local thrift store because I had 97 dollars burning a hole in my pocket. The store has some nice stuff -- pretty dishes and glassware -- but I never find any vintage treasures there like some of you do when you go thrifting. The last time I stopped in, they had some sewing patterns on the shelf, but other than a few books on sewing, there isn't a whole lot of craft-related stuff. But I like to go look anyway because you never know what you will find, right?

I headed for the shelf where the sewing patterns were the last time and guess what I found in a basket? Twelve or so Ziploc bags of embroidery floss!! SCORE!! It was all I could do not to jump up and down and make a scene. Some of it was wound on cardboard bobbins and some of it was still in skeins with DMC labels on them. I was sooo excited!

The large Ziploc was $1.00 and the smaller ones were 50 cents each, and I was so tempted to scoop them all up. I thought I should be nice and leave some of the floss for another stitcher, but I made sure grabbed the four bags with the skeins still wrapped in the DMC labels. I also took four of the Ziplocs with the cardboard bobbins. Most of the bobbins are hand-labeled with numbers and they appear to be DMC colors. (I compared some to floss I already have and they matched.) A few of them have Coates & Clark printed on them but I think it's still DMC floss.



This is not vintage floss. The DMC labels are very similar to the current one except they're using a different font now. Some of the skeins are only half full but a bunch look like haven't been used at all. I love how they grouped them by colors.



I've been wondering about the former owner of the floss and how her thread ended up in the thrift store. Did she have to give up embroidery or cross stitch due to arthritis or failing eyesight, or did she just lose interest in it and move on to some other craft? Or did she pass away? I know it doesn't matter but I think about stuff like that. And as thrilling as it was to discover these goodies, it was even better because somebody took the time to write the color number on those bobbins, and made sure the labels were still on the skeins she hadn't yet wound on bobbins. Obviously, a girl after my own heart because I would have done the same thing. And I do. I wish the rest of my life was as organized as my floss boxes.

It's crazy but I'm still so happy over this. I feel like I hit the embroidery floss jackpot and for only for $4.50. I keep taking the floss out of the bags and looking at it for awhile, and then putting it back inside. Some day I may actually use it.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!! Plus A TUSAL Report

Since it's now the day after Valentine's Day, I'd figure I'd show the little heart I made awhile ago specifically for the holiday. Oh, wait. I'm now remembering that it's supposed to be for next year. Yeah, that's right. I made it for 2011. Am I ahead of the game or what?

I love my little felt heart. :)

You can find the tutorial here on The Creative Place. I'm pretty sure I found this project linked on One Pretty Thing.

I've also started a felt heart garland weeks ago but put it aside after I ran out of the red floss (DMC 498) I was using and three different Michael's didn't have any in stock. I finally found some the other day at Tall Mouse, which I think is a store that's only in Southern California but it's similar to Michael's except they sell drool-worthy fabric as well.

My other recent finishes will have to wait until I track back to the sites the patterns were on, so how about a TUSAL Report for February? (The new moon was yesterday). These are my collected thread ends for 2010 so far.


If you'd like to join the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, go to the sign-up page on Dragon My Needle and sign up. Then post a picture of your TUSAL jar on the day of the New Moon each month.

There's a little Shih Tzu who keeps coming in here and staring at me as I'm typing this. I think she wants a snack so I'm gonna go take care of that. (She's 16 so she pretty much gets what she wants these days.) Have a great Monday!

Thank You So Much!!

Thank you all sooooo much for the comments and emails you've made and sent after my last post. It really helped a lot to read what you wrote and made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'm happy to say I am doing so much better now. For one thing, I now have access to my parents' cars -- just like when I was sixteen -- so I FINALLY was able to get out of the house on my own. I've been out to my own personal crack house aka Michael's to use up a gift card I got for Christmas, to In N Out with Maggie for lunch (we had burgers and yes, Maggie is a Shih Tzu) and to Starbucks for iced tea. Next up, I need to go back to work. And after that, I'll marry Johnny Depp and my life will be complete.

Once I get a job and start getting a paycheck again, I can finally have a giveaway. That has been a goal of mine since I started this blog, even back when no one was reading it. Before I run off and marry Johnny Depp, I promise to hold a giveaway or two.

See? I'm not only happier, I'm also delusional.

I just realized it's Friday and I have some finishes to share...which I will do as soon as I take pictures of them.

Thanks again, everyone! You all are the best!