Seen at our local thrift shop

I've gotta share. This is the dumpster outside my favorite local thrift shop, our Social Service League. A hangout for local artists is right down the alley (The Percolator) and that is our Arts Center on the right side of the photo. How I would have loved to have seen the artist toss paint onto this dumpster. It made my day, the vibrant colors splashed across what is ordinarily a rather grim object.


Look at this one too - it appeared last summer. I heard a tablecloth was spray painted there - look at the loveliness left behind.....

Thrift is IN

Our booth

I used to work as a newspaper reporter. I am saddened that the daily newspaper at my doorstep is continuing to shrink. I value it being there, but miss the extra reporting we used to enjoy.

So I'll report on a local trend. The local antique mall, on our main street downtown, is a bustling place. My brother and I rented a small booth there last month, in an effort to continue to recycle our stuff. Larry the owner said business was booming. He and Gwen, his co-owner/spouse have a theory. People still want to SHOP - they just don't want to spend as much money. So they come to the antique mall and carry home a very affordable and unique item, instead of heading for the big-box stores and dropping more cash.

We've had the booth for 6 weeks now and we've made more than expenses AND have enjoyed seeing what sells. Gwen and Larry think practical items are popular, along with kitsch....

I put some good quilts there, and they have not sold. But a few less-than-perfect, i.e. THRIFTY quilts sold quickly.

AND - as of today, the mall is FULL, meaning there is no booth space. Larry has run the mall for 20 years now - this is the fullest he has ever seen it. AND - last Saturday was their biggest day EVER.

I'm heading there soon, to leave more things. Times are good to be in the thrift business.....

Searching for Frances Fisher

Here's what we know: my friend Merikay became the owner of a bag of stitched items. She knew they came from Indiana. A set of placemats was among the items. They all have a label on them, saying they were stitched by Frances Fisher.

So of course we googled Frances Fisher Indiana.
This photo was there, showing a 1940 graduate of Rockville High School in Indiana.

That time frame could be right.
Here's another clue: a pattern piece inside:

It sure would be fun to know more about Frances. I love her style, she made each of these placemats different. They are so funky!

Orange

Get a load of this! Can you imagine this as a full-size quilt? I can. But it's not, it is a placemat, vintage 1960s. It has no lining but look at the backing, below.....

It has a label.

The hunt for information about that will take another blog to explain, trust me. Stay tuned.