more thrifting finds

As promised, here are pictures of some of my other thrifting finds from around Silver Spring:

Juice glasses ($2 for a set of four)

Vintage floral napkins ($3 for a set of six)

Bedside table ($10)

 Vintage sheets ($13 for two, almost complete, twin sets)

quilting project: stitch dc quilt along

Our stuff finally arrived on Friday (though sadly, our beloved couch couldn't fit through our oddly shaped entryway, so we had to find another, smaller one to take its place) and I've begun to unpack my studio and slowly get back into the swing of crafting. I have a few things in my to-do pile that I started before all of the craziness of the move, and a few new things I've been waiting to start, including my quilt blocks for the Stitch DC Mystery Quilt Along.

I cut and sewed my blocks together this week, after a lot of time going back and forth on color choices. In the end, I wound up using a cornflower blue solid with two organic Cloud9 prints that I picked up at Nido in Burlington, Vermont, and two green prints (from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain collection and Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection) from City Craft in Dallas, Texas. My question to you is, do you think this color palette works? I've been going back and forth on the greens. In some lights I totally think they work together, and in others, I'm less sure. Any thoughts or feedback--and alternate fabric suggestions--would be much appreciated!

fabrics on my wish list

 Coloring Garden by Anna Maria Horner 

Cabo by Leah Duncan

 Ele-fete by Cloud9 Fabrics

Castle Town by Lizzie House

latest thrifting find: floral laundry hamper

While waiting for our things to arrive (the movers are scheduled to come tomorrow--woo-hoo!), I've been busy exploring our new surroundings and scoping out the thrift stores in the area. Though I have yet to find one with a selection of craft supplies to rival Austin's Thrift House, I have managed to find a few places that stock some great vintage items at very reasonable prices.

Yesterday, I picked up this vintage floral laundry hamper for $6 from The Pennyworth Shop in downtown Silver Spring. I plan on using it in my studio to store all of my quilt batting and fiberfill.

Once the sun comes back out again (it's currently storming here), I'll take pictures of my finds from today--including a bedside table, juice glasses, and a heap of matching vintage floral sheets.

we made it!

 This is what Elton did for most of our 1500+ mile journey. 

We're still waiting for our furniture--and my crafty supplies--to arrive, but I promise there will be posts filled with cross-stitch furniture (!) and recent projects coming soon!

sewing project: embroidered name napkins

Before the sewing room was all packed up, I made personalized, embroidered lunch napkins for my co-workers as going-away gifts, using thrifted cotton and recently found vintage sheets. 

Each name was stitched with a simple running stitch, using lime green floss. 

thank you!

A salty oat cookie (!) made by the lovely Beth Hempton.

Everything's packed, the movers have come and gone, and we're currently camping out on the floor of our Austin house, getting ready for our drive to DC, which starts early tomorrow morning.

I grew up in New England, so I'm excited to live on the East Coast again for the first time in eight years, but there will definitely be things I'll miss about Texas (including our friends, queso, and the melt-in-your-mouth fresh tortillas from H-E-B). However, one of the things that I will miss most is the Austin crafting community. I've met an incredibly inspiring and supportive group of women here in town, and I'm sad to say good-bye. And so, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's helped me along the way, answered my crafty business questions, taught me new skills, cheered me on, and made me feel so welcome. 

Thank you to the gals of EtsyAustin. Though I joined this enthusiastic and active street team only weeks before finding out we were moving, I've had so much fun meeting members, attending events, and learning more about running a craft business in Austin.

Thank you to Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club, who took me on as an intern, let me help her make lots of cool crafts, passed along oodles of business advice, and shared books and supplies. I had so much fun working behind the scenes at NSC and learned so much about the day-to-day operations of a small craft business.

Thank you to all of my teachers at The Stitch Lab (such an amazing space and resource for crafters!), including Kat McTee and Rachel Hobson who taught me so much about embroidery and challenged me to try out new stitches and techniques.

And finally, thank you to the amazing women behind The WonderCraft (especially Beth H. who made the uh-mazing piece pictured above and wrote the sweetest blog post to go along with it), who have been so supportive of Salty Oat, dispensed great advice, and carried my items in their boutique. I had a blast interning for them (and using their button machine!) and will miss them dearly. (For those of you lucky enough to still be in Austin, I highly recommend you go visit them this weekend at their new location in East Austin!)

I've scheduled a recent craft project post (the first in a while!) to appear on Thursday (we'll be driving somewhere through Tennessee), and when I come back on Tuesday, I'll be blogging from our new apartment in Silver Spring---while hopefully surrounded by our recently delivered furniture. Until then...