I love Goodwill, they are so nice now. You know Thrifting is the new thing. It is very posh to recycle. Not sure if yours does this but I think it is the 3rd Sat of each month everything is 50% off. I picked up three pr of the cutest BRAND NEW sandals for $5 each. They had a bunch of shoes from same designer, same size so I figured someone donated a closet full of shoes... all my size!

Don't you just love it!?

I am so jealous of you and your fondue pot. I used to sell those back in the early 80s and they were really expensive. Lucky you! Enjoy.

We were at the river today, Coloma area. We were looking for something yummy to eat. You were lucky it wasn't tomorrow or we would have followed the smell to your place. Have a great time.

Goodwill hunting rocks! I wish it wasnt trendy- the shops are too crowded now. oh well it will pass for most people.

Don't you love a good score? I am not in need of anything right now...in fact, I'm trying to UNLOAD, but I still get the siren call of GW.

I haunted ours every few days when I was making garden art. Of course, I couldn't JUST go to the dishes section, and I managed to find some of the neatest stuff. Then, when DD got married, she wanted vintage saucers to use for cake serving, so I HAD to go often. And I'd find such great things. Our GW's have a weekly 50% off color tag and you can earn a gift certificate when you accumulate so many points. I was earning those pretty quickly!

I love going for the books; they're not ever 50% off, but I have managed to collect hardcovers of my favorite authors and great books to give as gifts all for a fraction of the cover price. Just scored the previous new novel that is still in stores at full price...got the hardcover for $3.99 vs $29.99, and I got to read it before I could get it at the library!

Doesn't that just make your day when you come across finds like that. Enjoy your gooey cheese!

WAHOO! I love those stories! Golddust, I can just imagine your heart suddenly racing when you saw the *box*! That it was in a box is a really special thing that doesn't happen very often. It was clearly there for you. Can you post a pic? I'd love to see the base.

I swear it's possible to manifest things there you really need. DH does it all the time, most recently with a fairly nice espresso machine (Saeco Via Venezia). I also have a habit of seeing some nice pottery on eBay, a big name PNW or CA studio potter and thinking "well, I'd never find *that* at GW" and sure enough it's there the next time I go.

Enjoy that Le Creuset fondue set! I would think your area would be a GW/thrift treasure trove, actually...hmm...note to self...

(if you post a pic of that I'll post a pic of the gorgeous $20 1930s Broken Star scrap quilt I found recently that just appraised at $500...)

You are on, Fly. I took the pics and when I get back from the DMV, I'll upload and post them.

The Goodwill was in Roseville, about 45 minutes away from where I live but closer to the BMW dealership. We don't have the best thrifts stores where I live. Aimee says the best thrift stores are in big cities, like San Francisco. She is a thrift store queen.

Looking forward to those photos!

And ah, o.k...I guess I was thinking too broadly. I remember going to the big SA in SF and not finding much, but then again it was a weekend.

I'd love to know if you do anything special with your fondue, too - I remember it was a staple at college parties back--what, maybe 30 years ago? *UGH*...and now it's back. I've loved it ever since. We just use emmenthaler, swiss, a little cornstarch, wine, kirsch, and garlic. What do you use? I DO love it so :) (got our much less cool fondue pot at GW too)

I went to our new Goodwill and indeed it is a revelation as to how nice and clean it is. But unfortunately they just have the same awful stuff they have always had...just cleaner :) I may give it a few trial runs and see but I don't need anything and am trying also to clear out and de clutter...

You did great ! And fly I would love to see the quilt !

woohoo, golddust!! That stand is definitely cool. I love fondue, too. We used Gruyere with the wine et al, but those days are gone. Had to become a dry house. Miss my fondue and glass of red in the evenings. :( Still, I will live vicariously through you and imagine wonderful evenings dipping huge chunks of bread into the creamy cheese mixture. Yum. Enjoy!

You know I have never eaten fondue in my life? lol. It's never appealed to me.

Why is cheese fondue good? What food do you dip it in?

Convince me and I might try it!

Speaking of good finds, I was on my way home last Friday, we live in the country and I saw a garage sale sign a mile out of town going towards my house. I went two more miles, and an "old lady" was selling a lot of her glassware.

I bought a clear, pink, cut glass creamer for only 50 cents!

I am a cheater fondue girl. I buy Swiss Knight brand L'Original Swiss Cheese Fondue mix. I add some cayenne, nutmeg and garlic. Why? Because it tastes as good as any I have made myself and it is lot's cheaper to buy than to make. Trader Joe's carries cheese fondue as well but the closest TJ's is 45 minutes away.

Oakley, I chop an apple, some celery, cook up some peppered platter bacon and crusty sour dough bread in bite size pieces. That is it! You can dip anything you want! The trick is to make everything you want to dip, bite size.

I haven't done a meat fondue in a zillion years but now that I have 2 fondue pots, I may have to host a fondue party with both meat and cheese.

For chocolate fondue.

{{gwi:1524835}}

yum.

Yummo! I'd have to drink milk with a chocolate fondue. LOL!

Does anyone have an idea as to how old my new fondue pot is? I'm thinking 60s or 70s but leaning toward 60s because of the stand. I could be dead wrong though.

Also, I am not particular about what brand of fondue cheese mix I buy. The brand I mentioned is just the brand my local store carries. Trader Joe's is great and I bought some at Costco that was very good as well. Costco seems to carry it seasonally.

Fly! Where is your quilt pictures?

The box or instructions should have a date?? Maybe even the bottom of the unit?? Much cooler looking than your words described. Sooooo jealous.

I never "got" the fondue thing much but my dh loves it. He is 6.5yrs older than me so I think he enjoyed more in his youth than I did. He got me a really nice one and we used it once. It has a bunch of little cups around it for toppings and cubed stuff. Hmmm now I am hungry again.

As for Goodwill, you are better off shopping in nicer neighborhoods to get good stuff. Here in Sacto area there are plenty of dives. The one Golddust went to is in nice area but stuff is so so. I remember when I lived in Atlanta when dh was in school I went to yard sales and thrift stores in the really ritzy neighborhoods. Got amazing deals.

I think my best score ever was the 1941 Oneida King Arthur silverplate silverware I picked up at a junky antique store back in 1985. Service for 8 in original box. Everything was half off so I paid about $20. The entire set is worth over $1500 and pieces are hard to find so a serving piece can run over $40 IF replacements unlimited has one. The pieces are hard to find because they stopped making it because of WW2. When I divorced my practice husband that set was only thing I made sure judge gave me out of all our belongings. He never cared about it anyway, it was my special find and I treasure it.

Gold, now you got me itching to go thrifting.

And yes Fly, where is the quilt?

Shannon, there is no date on anything. I've read the small print. There is a barcode but it is a sticker. Not sure what that means.

Do you live in Sacramento? I knew you lived close to me but wasn't thinking Sacramento.

I rarely find anything in thrift stores these days. I am overloaded with stuff too.

Golddust,that's such intelligent design...the one part I don't like about the usual design is that it's tricky to get underneath to the heat source--but Le Creuset solved it! Ugh...now I want a new fondue pot...

Anyway, here's the dear thing that was waiting for me -- not one solid color in the whole thing, all scrap, all really brilliantly juxtaposed. A national-level quilt expert *happened* to be appraising quilts locally just the weekend after I took this to a quilt shop, so I lucked out. Evidently one of the black-pattern pieces is Victorian mourning fabric -- most of the others are 20s or 30s, all hand-sewn, almost no stains. WHO tossed this I cannot imagine.

Here's a closeup of the center medallion:

Of course, I can't get a photo that really does it justice...

But back to you, golddust--you did GREAT! It really does make a difference. I've never seen a design like that before and I'll certainly be on the lookout for it now.

Ack, just reread my post and I *really* didn't mean to use the phrase "intelligent design"!

Oh fly that is such beautiful art. You are a lucky gal and so is the quilt ! c

Yay Golddust, nice score!

OMG Fly, that is an amazing quilt. I cannot believe $20! My GM had a postage stamp quilt she did as a young wife that was probably equivalent to yours in number of pieces and difficulty. It took her five years to complete!!

Fly, you win the cake!! What a stunning quilt! I'd trade you my fondue pot for your quilt in a heartbeat! LOL! Textile arts are so under appreciated. I love the fabrics.

It's good someone tossed it so you can appreciate it. They could have kept it as a dog blanket.

Ugh, now I'm feeling bad because I hijacked your thread...I think we both did very well, percentage- and quality-wise--and we are both equally grateful recipients of someone else's castoffs! And yours is proof of my theory of GW manifestation :)

We should have a thread for great thrift shop finds, don't you think?

And jlc, WOW. 5 years--I hope it's stayed in the family? The appraiser said that from the quality of the fabrics and the precision of the stitching, this was obviously meant to showcase someone's best work; it just makes me ache that it didn't stay in the family. There it was, on a hanger at GW...

And gd, I agree about textile arts--I love them too. I can do mosaics but I can't handle fabric or yarn or whatever other fiber with any precision, for some reason, so I am left merely to appreciate them. I should show you an art weaving I found--op art with incredible wood pieces mixed in...unreal. There's a strong history of textile art up here (and down in CA too) that I think this piece relates to. Maybe I'll start the thread with it so that this one doesn't leave the delicious topic of fondues of all sorts :) (have you had your fondue yet? You've made me almost decide to try the mix, although I seem to recall that there was some ingredient in it that we didn't want...but I'll recheck it now for sure)

No, you didn't hijack my thread one bit!! And yes, I had my fondue last night. It was wonderful! I think we both scored.

My curtains in the living room are handmade lace - old of course. I love them. They were more than the $20. you paid for your beautiful quilt but much less than they are worth.

Lucky us! We should start a new thrift store thread, if you don't feel comfortable using this one. LOL!