Just Ask

Friday was damp and chilly, but this guy looked pretty cozy in his box under a table. 

A prime kitty indeed. He reminded me of this poem by Eleanor Farjeon.

Cats

Cats sleep Anywhere, Any table, Any chair, Top of piano, Window-ledge,

In the middle,
On the edge,
Open drawer,
Empty shoe,
Anybody's
Lap will do,
Fitted in a
Cardboard box,
In the cupboard
With your frocks--
Anywhere!
They don't care!
Cats sleep
Anywhere.
 

Neither KK or I expected it to be as chilly as it was, so one of my first purchases was a couple of pashmina shawls, which we wore the rest of the morning. At fifty cents each, no need to be cold!

Both dogs thought laying them on the floor for picture taking was a great idea. Doesn’t Zoë look like she’s ready for a magic carpet ride? 

Fannie was just ready for a belly rub. 

The rainy morning discouraged all but the more intrepid sellers, but there were a couple of estate sales. At the one in my neighborhood, I picked up this MCM piece.

It was filthy, but seemed to be printed on Masonite so I gambled a dollar that it could be cleaned.

And it could!

An old toothbrush, glass cleaner, a couple of rags and about ten minutes was all it took. What an improvement. I'm glad I saved it.

From the other estate sale I snagged this too-cute embroidery. 

Took it out of its oxy soak this morning. All the spots are gone! 

A moving sale netted a new iron, still in its box, for ten bucks. Next to a Rowenta, this is my favorite brand, and I figure if I go ahead and get a backup, then the one I'm currently using will never die. Such is the perversity of the universe. 

The one thing I kept trying to remember to look for was black sewing thread. I ran out the other day, which is amazing because I have dozens of spools of threads. Evidently I use black more than anything. Even though several sales had sewing stuff, there was no black thread.

Our last stop of the day was the one with this Craigslist ad:

FABRIC. Did I sat FABRIC? Quilter's you need to stop by. Bernina Serger 2000. Don't stay away just because you aren't into fabric. Tools. Did I say TOOLS? Radial Arm saw. Oscillating Sander. Tool Dock. If you don't see what you want, ask. It can probably be found.

The lady running the sale was delightful, funny and warm. Her fabric and yarns were in lidded plastic totes, which were all closed when we got there because it was sprinkling (again). “Wait ten minutes,” she said. “The sun will be back out.”  (She was right.) We didn’t wait to start looking though. KK found a couple of pieces of fun fabric for me right away. 

We talked about our fabric and yarn stashes and how they can run away with you. She had never heard the acronym SABLE (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy) and loved it. Turns out she quilts professionally. She has a long-arm machine and says she does a couple a month for other people. I was enjoying our conversation so much I almost forgot to inquire about thread. I didn’t see any, but when I mentioned needing black thread she rummaged around in a box and handed me this. 

Not just black thread, but really good quality black thread – thousands of yards of it! And when I asked what she wanted for it, she said to just take it, that us stashers have to stick together!

I've never bought any thread on a cone before, not being sure how I could use it with my sewing machine, which has a horizontal spindle to hold the spool. But I tried just setting the cone in front and a little to the side of my machine and threading it, and it works great. So now I don’t have to pass up any thread bargains that might come my way.

I wanted to try out the thread when I got home, so I played with a bit of her fabric and made a little pin to wear. That's a vintage button for his nose.

The backside fabric is from the bag of free stuff I picked up last week 

and the nonsense word was made from the little letter-beads I found Memorial Day weekend.

I think I'm going to have fun with this!