Small Town, Big Fun

Went down to Roseburg (2 hour drive away) to visit our friends Diana and Dave and go to the Umpqua Valley Quilt Show this weekend. Eye candy galore! Diana and I oohed and aahed our way through the exhibit hall at the county fairgrounds.

We were simultaneously inspired and intimidated by the wonderful work that we saw. Of course some pieces were more amazing than others, but the quality of the quilts was truly wonderful. There was even a little quilt made by a four-year-old during “Grandma Camp!” (Sorry, didn’t get a picture of it, simple squares sewn into a wall hanging or doll blanket, but still…a four-year-old!)

The quilt guild sponsoring the show had a large booth in the back of the hall, and their main display made this old thrifter’s heart happy.

Of course we found a few things and put together an inch – although the lady who took my dollar thought our inch was too short and encouraged me to pick out something else. But I was happy with what we had.

Somewhat to my surprise, that wasn’t the only thrifty shopping I got to do. We planned to head south about 2 p.m. on Friday, so KK and I went out in the morning to see what we could find. Which wasn’t much, but I was happy with this.

 

I've noticed these pet-hair-collecting gloves online (they’re one of those “as seen on TV” items, but I don’t own a television so those are rarely “as seen by me”). Wouldn’t have spent ten or fifteen bucks on one, but for a dollar I was willing to give it a try, and it does a pretty good job.

Fannie turns out to have quite an undercoat and is starting to shed. And though Zoë has zero undercoat her short white hairs get into everything. So I think we’ll get our dollar’s worth. And I did get a good laugh from the literature that came in the box, with its “Important Safety Instructions.” I mean, really? Safety instructions?

And by golly, they left out the only one I think might be needed: Don’t use this glove wrong-side out. Ouch!

Saturday morning Diana and I stopped at one estate sale on our way to the fairgrounds. It was really picked over, guess it had started on Thursday, and I wish we’d been there that day because I think there was some cool stuff. Like a particularly gorgeous stained glass screen that we saw a picture of in their ad, but that was gone. However, I did spent two bucks and left with another addition to my glass-vases-in-the-window collection

a cozy muffler from Ireland

(I've already ignored the ‘dry clean only’ tag; honestly, do people really take something like a scarf to the dry cleaners? Do they think the wool never got wet when it was on the sheep?)

and three containers of miscellaneous buttons.

Probably nothing too valuable in them, though I'm still trying to figure out what these metal buttons depict.

A lovely lady? But, ummm, are those horns among her hair? Frankly, my first impression was Ludwig van Beethoven, so maybe I'll stick with that.

Buttons are in the eye of the beholder, right?

Diana got the real deal of the day though. She’s part of a church group that is upgrading a meeting room where women in recovery can gather, and they need some decent chairs. She was admiring the four dining chairs at the estate sale, which were marked $80. This turned out to be the price for all four, but they have zero budget for the project. The price went down to $40, then $30. We both tried them out and they were very comfy and in great shape, so she decided to get them.

When we got home I noticed a maker’s tag on the bottom of one chair and the word ‘Denmark.’ So I looked them up, and it turned out they are from the Danish company Bolinge, probably made in the Sixties. And worth quite a bit more than $7.50 each! There are two each of these two styles, all with the original upholstery (which I think is wool) and most likely made of teak.

So instead of taking them straight to the meeting room, they are going to try to sell them to someone who appreciates midcentury furniture, and use whatever they raise that way to furnish the room.

Treasures lurk everywhere, don’t they?