Unexpected Bargains!

For various reasons, I've been on a Do Not Buy Anything program for the past few weeks and I've successfully resisted all kinds of shopping temptations. But every now and then you stumble upon a bargain that you really can't afford to pass up.

The first one was at our church's yearly festival last Sunday. At the White Elephant booth I found a brand new plastic scrapbooking case for only a dollar. (They're usually $8.00 or $9.00 in the local stores.) I use them for storing sewing and quilting projects. As they are 14 inches square, 12-inch blocks, such as my string-pieced eight-pointed stars, fit perfectly in them. They're also handy for keeping together all of the sub-units of a particular quilting project, such as all of the 3 inch Nine Patches and Rail Fence blocks I've made for my Carolina Crossroads quilt. These cases also come in handy for garment sewing. They're perfect for keeping together the pattern, notions, thread and fabric for each project.

I found the second too-good-to-be-missed bargain when I was tagging along with my mum on one of her thrift store expeditions: an Ott-Lite floor lamp for only $10.00! For anyone in the quilting world who doesn't already know this, Ott-Lites are amazingly expensive lamps which shine full spectrum light upon your work. Not only is this handy when trying to choose colors, but it helps my poor, middle-aged eyes to see what they're doing when I stitch. Now I can sew in the evenings as easily as when morning sunlight is streaming through my window. Yay!