Nifty Thrift

In my morning run of errands all over the place, I wanted to run into the Goodwill to look for cool floral sheets. I had an idea that I wanted to make new table coverings for my summer tent display by using fresh and funky floral sheets. I have to admit, this all came about after a trip a few weeks back to the fabric store. Crikey -- fabric is so expensive. And I don't sew. At all -- well, maybe I did a few straight line projects back in Home Ec class in middle school. But lately, nothing. So the whole project of sewing table coverings that actually fit my tables rather than drape across and droop into the street puddles is rather daunting anyway. But I didn't want to spend a small fortune on this either. Especially with the high risk factor that I could really screw it up and need to try again. So why not hit the thrift store and pick up something colorful and fun for cheap. If it doesn't work out, no biggie.

I imagined a plain top and flounces or horizontal stripes of several assorted patterns. But who knows what will come out. I haven't measured anything. This is completely seat-of-the-pants. But a quick trip down the linen aisle and I found a couple of coordinating -- not matching! -- yellow pattern pillow cases. I have desperately wanted to stuff my chair cushions for the little chair on the front porch into a pillow case because the current set is dirty and the stripes are tired. Aha! This will be the perfect solution! Got them home and they really are cute, but too narrow. By about an inch. The darn cushions were all scrunched up wouldn't lay flat. So I just had to lay them over the top. Sort of dumb, but still cute from the street, I guess. At least it won't make my jammie bottoms dirty when I sit there with the coffee and paper in the morning, watching the neighbors go to work (or let their dogs poop on the drive strip out front, right at the level of my car door).

Anyway, then I found these three sheets which look rather charming together. They are not even the same size, of that I am sure. So it could all be a wild goose chase. I'm taking them to Tacoma this morning to see what they look like draped over the table in the sunshine. If they are too transparent, too flimsy or too . . . too, then I'll find something else to do. It's worth a shot. Before I start dusting off Mom's old sewing machine and sweating over the bobbin thing-a-ma-bob, I want to see what they look like outside, and with all my other display pieces. It could be a circus of too much everything also. Hey, come to my soap circus! No, it's not the hallucinogenic drugs, darling, it's just my floral sheet explosion.

And I was quite taken by the lovely brown tree branches in this sheet too -- which I'm hoping to use for a table covering for the fall. Sort of simple and zen, sort of retro. And I'm really big into trees. So of course it had to come home with me too. But really, it was all so cheap, cheap, cheap, who can resist?