Goodwill operates as a network of 185 independent organizations in the U.S. It is unfortunate that Goodwill in other areas are not up to par. In my area the stores are brand new buildings and huge. They are clean, well maintained and organized. They all have a drive through lane to drop off items and on weekends it always has a line of cars that keeps moving through. They come right out to the car and unload it for you and give you a receipt. Everyone is polite and well groomed and wearing a t-shirt uniform. The items in the store seem to really move, including clothing. If you see something you like you cannot 'think about it' and come back later as it WILL be sold and gone. I found out by chatting with one of the workers, that they do not put out any items that are not in pristine condition and sort the shabby items out to sell to places that buy scrap metal and rags and recycled glass. They still make money off of this, so donate everything. I suspect they have dealers come in to purchase items separately or they put valuable vintage items on ebay to fetch more money, as I never see a special area set aside in the store for such items to be displayed as featured collectables as other thrift shops do. So a Jadite mixing bowl would not be set out and priced at fifty cents nor does it end up in a special display case and priced as a vintage find at twenty dollars for collectors seeking out those rare finds. They do have *standard item pricing* though. For instance, all coffee mugs are fifty cents no matter what. I got a really cool Starbucks mega mug for the same price as all the junky ones with all the advertising on them.

Are these small squares like 5" squares, or did you just cut along the seams? If they are small squares I definitely would not attempt to wash them at this point. I googled whether or not thrift stores wash things and some said yes, others said definitely not. If it is shrinkage and running dyes you're worried about would just use the fabric as is -- I'd assume most of the shirts were worn and washed before being donated. On the other hand, if the idea of working with fabric when you don't know where it's been just "creeps you out" then you might soak them in hot water with soap and rinse w/out too much agitation. Hope I'm not putting ideas in your head, it would not bother me personally.

I'm in PA... but I don't do flea markets (too time consuming!). Thanks, though!

Welcome to Garden Web and This Home Site. I see you just joined yesterday. Do you have a computer in your RV? If so, how wonderful...all the comforts of home while traveling. I guess you have some sort of a wireless service that you are able to use it when RVing around to different places. Tell us about that...is it expensive? Is it dependable?...or might you have to use the library when traveling to look up the thrift shops on your site? I find the yellow pages of any phone book lists all of the thrift shops in an area just great, and like to frequent those that are raising funds especially for the needy. Have you ever been to the Highway 50 yardsale? I forget how many hundred miles long it is. I've heard it almost runs coast to coast, and is touted as the world's biggest yard sale. There is another one that starts in Kentucky and runs clear down to the gulf coast. Anyone ever been to either of those? I have some friends that live out of their RV. In the summer they are the Host and Hostess at the local State Park. By helping out by keeping an eye out for any campers disobeying the rules, and helping out in different ways, they are given free camping for their whole stay. When the weather turns cold here in Indiana, and camping slows, they roll on down south, and are host and hostess again in a southern campground for the winter months. Sounds like a fun life to me, but think I would always want to have a 'fixed' place of my own to call home to come back to. Sue