Thrift Scores

As I mentioned earlier, I started out Labor Day with a six am trip to Unique Thrift store.    A big part of my wardrobe and almost all of my art supplies come directly from either the Village Discount Outlet or Unique Thrift.   In my opinion, Unique is a little pricey, but everything's always half off on Mondays, and they do have a huge linens section which I like to pillage frequent on half off days.   If you're ever in Chicago, it's really worth plotting out a map with all the locations and making a day of it.   Anyhow, yesterday was the earliest I had ever arrived, and I was shocked to see how many people were there so early.  I found a lot of embroidery......

I love the swirled roses on this piece so much- I can't wait to cut it up and stitch back into it.  It's especially hard to tell the back from the front.  

I also hit the motherlode when this set of twelve hand edged whitework linen napkins jumped out at me.  The price for all twelve?  Brace yourselves......$2.00.  And, they were half off!  $1.00.  It seems almost criminal to walk away with these perfect specimens for that much.  But I did it anyway.

Look at those stitches!  They are perfect, perfect satin stitches.  The thread is pristine.  The edges are gorgeous.   It's an unbelievable collection- and from napkin to napkin they are exactly alike.  Clearly this project was one woman's passion for what I would guess was at least a year....I certainly can not imagine wiping my spaghetti covered mouth on these beauties.   But, I can imagine reworking them and embroidering right over the top.

Lastly, I found this handsome appliance.  A Rowenta iron, good as new, for $8.00.  It felt like a splurge as thrift prices go, but as Katy said to me when I told her about it...."you go through irons like most girls go through shoes"  So I think I'll get my money's worth.  So far it's a real dream boat of an iron- it does as it's name implies- it glides.  I love it.