Pick'n'Mix - the joy of the chaz in '26!

annieb64

My grandmother saved squares of worn sheets to use instead of tissues when we had a cold.They were beautifully soft for a sore nose.

weenancyinAmerica

My brother's quilt had a blanket as the backing with no stuffing (we don't get that cold in California). Lasted for over thirty years and one of my sister's has it now.

weenancyinAmerica

Brie, that was a wonderful description of how to make a quilt. We used to make a number of them for the hospital and we would use yarn ties to hold them together instead of quilting them. My late brother-in-law belonged to the local quilting group and they would do the delicate hand stitching. Most of my close male relatives make quilts. I found out at a family get-together when I overheard them discussing quilt patterns! I have made several including a king-sized one for my sister as a wedding present (not the sister whose husband was the quilter).

Rosa_Damascena

@Brie and @weenancyinAmerica I am enjoying your lessons in American social history. In fact it reminded me of a film that came out about 30 years ago that I had absoloutley no interest in, but now I am inclined to track down Whitney Otto's book:

Brie

@weenancyinAmerica I have 2 quilts made for me by my adopted grandmother (older woman who lived next door to us when I was growing up - spent a lot of my time at her house which she enjoyed as she had no females in her family just sons and grandsons). The first one she made for me shows scenes from Little Women. The second one has scenes from my childhood. I know I have them here somewhere but haven't seen either in decades and they've only been used a very few times. I've always thought I should at least hang one up on a wall as decoration as I don't have the right size bed for them. When I get round to decluttering the loft……

On the potential progress side…..we replaced our lounge rug a few years back, and then replaced the replacement (which was dire) last year. The original rug is quite a good quality wool one from Ikea and OH had often said he didn't want to get rid of it as he thought we should us it in the garage (which is basically our library). To do that we would of course need to clear out the garage (which is basically RoD2). Anyhoo - I friend of ours has finally been offered housing by the council which he got to see yesterday. He doesn't like the place but if he refuses he'll be booted off the housing ladder. One of the problems is that the lounge, which isn't big, has no proper flooring, no lino or carpet. I was telling OH about this and he suggested the Ikea rug might suit. Friend thinks it might just work!!. But I'll tick that box when we get to it. The rug has been rolled up in the garage for maybe 5 years so no idea how many mouse families it might be housing.

Nelliegrace

The best bits of the most worn out denim jeans would be used to patch others to get a bit more use out of them as gardening wear. I darned and patched the elbows of an old Herdwick wool jumper.

Nelliegrace

Before wall to wall carpets we had rugs which could, if necessary, be sent off to the cleaners. The edges of the wooden floors upstairs was stained and varnished or had strips of linoleum.

DigForVictory

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82119282#Comment_82119282

Aye, part of our sitting room has a workbench (its not a usual house) and after we sanded the floorboards, Himself bagged up the sawdust and used it to make a wooden paste to go between the then varnished boards, a bit nautical. It's stopped all sorts of nails & pins and screws & small things falling between floors. It's too long/wide/expensive/impractical to carpet so we had two areas carpeted and one corner has lino (the 'teapoint' but also upstairs kitchen where melting wax & cooking up plant dyes etc is an acceptable use where as downstairs in the 'real kitchen' that would cause a lot of comment, & risk cross contamination of pans.) We put a rug on the carpet to protect it from glue, tea spills etc & it now helps mark out the area here we shouldn't dump stuff on the floor so I have space to do yoga… The rug gets cleaned (hoovered, shampooed, take downstairs outside & thrashed in a strong breeze - whichever technique lends itself to energy & weather). The whole floor rather less often as we have to relocate so much stuff. Just there's space for the whole family to practice air pistol target accuracy, welding, catching up on a TV series &/or trying to get the printer to cooperate with the computer. Downsizing is going to be a real pain.

Potternerd

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82108803#Comment_82108803

thank you some fab suggestions there. I do prefer autumnal/ winter clothes ( whilst simultaneously never wanting summer to end!) So come the cooler weather I shall get styling.

I found a gorgeous Boden black velvet coat for £13,

A St Michael denim look shacket for £6.50

Navy Next linen trousers for £3.50

A heavy cotton striped tote bag for £1

And a cornflower blue John Lewis skirt for £4.50.

Wednesday2000

I'm off to Brighton for a few days so I will look around the shops there.😁