Shifting Gears

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I'm quilted out. I ran out of steam with two to go. One is ready to be quilted and have the binding sewn on. The other needs the top put together, then quilted, then the binding done. But I'm on a quilt hiatus.

And while I love the sound of that, I keep finding quilt patterns I'd like to try, or fabric that'd make what I think would be a great quilt. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back to them, especially with the holidays coming up (did I really say that, already?).

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So I thought I'd get back to handbags for a little bit. The kids and I sat on the floor and divided fabrics into four sections, the first of which is the vintage, shabby chic, roses, etc. in this bag. This set of bags (there are more brewing) will be very mixy-matchy, hopefully with the fabrics being sophisticated and pretty enough to keep it classy. I'm still working on mixing fabrics that don't necessarily go together, and while I don't think I'm getting much better at it I do think I'm getting better about letting my "inhibitions" go and trying different things. Whether they work or not remains to be seen!


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This bag measure about 13.5" tall by 13.5" wide, with a 3.5" deep base, with two inside pockets and a button closure at the top. I've been collecting the fabrics for a while just for a project (or quilt, but ...) like this, and it's great to finally be able to use them. The inside fabric is a thrifted Pottery Barn teen sheet, an awesome find at $2.


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Totally changing the subject, but this picture was in the camera when I loaded the handbag images, guess how much this shopping cart FULL of groceries was (sorry for all the plastic bags ... I know they're terrible)? I can't remember everything we got, but I know there are 7 large boxes of cereal, 2 huge jars spaghetti sauce, 5 boxes of taco shells/dinners, 3 bottles of salad dressing, and 4 boxes of cereal bars/school lunch items. If you know me "in real life" you already know what a huge fan of the dent and bent store I am. I've been to some that are fair, but ours is incredible. I get a lot of organic cereals, Thai foods, weird sauces, cheap good salad dressings, canned fruits and veggies, oatmeal, spices, giant Nestle crunch bars (er ... um ... yeah, I do), and more at rock bottom prices. Occasionally we'll get stale crackers but it's rare and I just throw them in the oven for a little while and they're fine. other than that we've never had any problems with the stuff we've gotten there ... I have much worse luck at Costco, but that's a vent for another day. I believe the store we go to is called Liquidation Groceries (they've changed owners and names a few times), we just call it the dent and bent store, but it's in Bonita Springs. Oh yeah, total cost - $29. So there's my money saving tip of the week ... check out your liquidation grocery store.

Here's another money saving idea ... if you use fabric softener sheets buy Bounce or a comparable good brand and slice them in half (I use an electric bread knife) and use 1/2 for each dryer load. This doesn't work with the generic ones I've tried as they just aren't as good as the better brands.

Okay, last ones ... baking soda and vinegar. Both are very inexpensive, much less expensive than most cleaning products, and both clean things very well without all the weird chemicals. Just don't mix them together! I became a true baking soda believer when it got ink off a wall. I use baking soda in my washer, 1/2 the amount recommended of detergent and slightly less than 1/4 C. baking soda. I also keep a cup of baking soda in the shower with an old toothbrush so I can scrub the shower whenever I need to. Vinegar is great for cleaning and is an awesome germ killer. Yes, vinegar smells, but only until it's dry ... try it and see. We use it on the floors, on the carpet, to clean the kitchen and baths. More on baking soda. More on vinegar.

Update: Here's another opportunity to save money. 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a Dyson vacuum ... enter here.

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1 Comment

  1. I can't remember if I already posted this comment...oh well. Anyway, it said that I hadn't heard of a liquidation grocery store but $29! Yikers! Also, that bad is adorable! P.S. A semi-solution to your plastic bags is coming in the mail.

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