Thursday, July 7, 2016

Thrifted Treasures

For several years I've been trying out new quilting designs on a large piece of layered white fabrics destined to become a mattress cover.
The matress pad/cover I had quilted 21 years ago is reaching the end of its life.  So now I've realized the cover I've been making will only fit a twin sized bed.  I have absolutely no idea why I made it so small.  That left me with the opportunity/challenge of finding vintage 100% cotton sheets to make one that is actually big enough for my bed.

I did find one sheet from the 1950s in the past several weeks, but thought I'd have to settle with lining it with a pale beige sheet.  The one from 21 years ago had white cotton on one side and unbleached muslin on the other.

Yesterday I decided to make a stop at a nearby Salvation Army resale shop.  I frequently visit that shop but seldom buy things because the manager insists on pricing things rather high, as if she'd purchased items wholesale instead of receiving them for free.  This week I got lucky.

 Two new, never opened twin flat sheets.

 100% cotton percale, so the thread count is higher than muslin.  My mom always preferred percale to muslin, and, I admit, I prefer that texture too.

Given the postal zone on the wrapper, these were manufactured before 1963.  I'm also familiar with the labels from the 1950s, and they were not this orange color.

I have a couple of quilts to finish first, so it will be a while.

I also found [an also over-priced] tatted doily; I'll take a photo of that too later.

Happy quiltmaking and knitting,.....

6 comments:

Doreen said...

Following this one!!!!Always something that must come first, hmmmmmmm?????

Quilting Babcia said...

That was a very lucky find! A great idea quilting your own mattress cover - what a fabulous way to practice FMQ and have something so very usable in the end.

Margie said...

Had never thought of a mattress cover!! A good thing to practice on. Please let us follow your journey while making this. WILL be following for sure.

Dolly said...

I can't tell how much these were priced.............$4.? Not bad.

Our Salvation Army store did the same thing, where we lived in Oklahoma. It always bothered me that their prices were so high, when the main people that shopped there were people who couldn't afford to shop at higher-priced stores.............and, like you said, the items HAD BEEN DONATED in hopes of HELPING people.

Very good idea of yours, though, and I'm glad that you were blessed with this find..........I don't believe in luck.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Gee, I was manufactured in 1963;)

sissy said...

A mattress cover is such a great idea. Of course you have me on a cotton sheet search now. Thank you for this great idea.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...