ONE PERSON'S TRASH IS ANOTHER PERSON'S TREASURE...

It was a lovely sunny autumn day yesterday so I went to Tetsworth with a friend and set about seeing what I could find for myself or other people. I love carboots and have been going to them to buy anything interesting or of use for many years. For some time years ago I used to be a seller but it's an awful lot of work on your own and I can't do it any more. This 6" tile above I bought for Gillian. She's made something very similar in tile mosaic on a large flat stone so it may interest her. 50p, how could I leave it behind?



I'm always looking for recycled material to use in quilts, the more the merrier, provided I have room to keep it! This single valance cream sheet from Next was £1. I use this kind of material for the dividing strips between patches and for borders as there's a nice long piece of material to use. You do have to check that the centre of the sheet isn't worn but plenty of material in the valance - and straight, too.


This pair of pillowcases says to me that they'll make interesting borders! Swirly greens, pinks and blues and, when the seams are cut away, there's a long piece of straight material here, too. 25p for the two.I think this is the prize from today's shopping expedition. Three long, straight dresses with interesting patterns, and colourful - and cheap!! 50p each. Can't sneeze at that price.

This is a detail from the dress on the left and it's the reason why I picked it up. Heffalumps!
The pattern on the central dress is medallions and roses. I took these photos as the dresses were waving in the breeze so this is a little blurry.

The dress on the right has a fine silver thread running the length of the material and again, this caught my eye as a good design for borders. I can't wait to get started on cutting them apart, with the rotary cutter, to slice off the seams and non-usable bits before I fold them into flat narrow 'packets' and file in the pile of that colour...
Couldn't resist this for 50p. I like using a teapot...

The pattern on this pretty 30's pattern plate caught my eye again - 50p. It's a little smaller than a 'normal' dinner plate so I'm wondering if it will cut my food consumption (though not the biscuits, pastries, cakes etc which I love)...

The seller was selling small carpet samples at 5 for £1 but as I just wanted 2, that's another 40p. Because my sewing room carpet is dark red I can't see where the sewing machine pedal is against the carpet so I've put one of these underneath it and hope I shall be able to locate it as the weather gets greyer. Don't know what I'm going to use the other piece for yet but it'll come in useful, somewhere.Ah. Two 10m rolls of Christmas paper at £1 each which will save me struggling into the roof to fetch down last year's remnants. I've got a few presents to wrap already.
I couldn't resist this, it's full of amusing 'catty' things and was, I think, 25p or 50p. Teresa will find it a laugh, too, when she gets over having to have the moggy she took from England to Holland put to sleep at the end of last week. He had severe eczema when she got him from RSPCA's Blackberry Farm near Quainton, which she cured over the years but now he had got old, with a thyroid problem, too, so she had to say Goodbye to Mo.
Four apples for 25p for another of those crunchy-topped apple charlotte puds on Marigold Jam's blogsite...


A full tin of starch for spraying poly cotton material to stabilize it for cutting, 25p, I think.






This is for Ashley. He loves tuna and this large 'in-date' tin was 50p. The seller explained they'd bought it in error thinking it was tuna in brine. That'll last a few days as I use tuna as a treat on top of his real cat food.
The only other thing I bought and forget to photo was a Lakeland fruit and veg cushion. The seller had been given it by a family member but didn't know what it was - I have one already. They're for putting in the drawer in your frig to help keep the contents fresher for longer. You cut to size as required. It cost, I think, 50p.
I found three things that the different sellers hadn't come across before but I had so recognised them. There was the 'cushion' item, then a lady at another stall had a small green chunky glass item which had a scoop in the top of its, say, 3" length. It's a razor blade sharpener from the 'old days'... and I can't remember what the third one was, but it's unusual for three things to turn up on the same day. Wish I'd taken a photo of it but the camera was at the bottom of my trolley.

I had a good haul yesterday and for not a of lot of money. Took it out of me a bit but luckily I didn't have to drive home, just stop at Waitrose and get cat food - and lovely scrummy Chocolate (and Caramel) Surprises.

Then home to watch F1, well, sort of.

Now to start cutting up all that material.

The title of this post comes from the board at the exit from the site... how true! Last one of the year next Sunday, weather permitting.)