Thrifty find

I've been a thrift story treasure hunter for years. I miss the wonderful Houseing Works stores in NYC, especially their book sections. But hope springs eternal so I pop into local thrift stores when I happen to be near and can spare a little time. As someone pointed out to me the native costume of the Cape Codder is markedly different than that of the Manhattanite. There the emphasis is chino and khaki rib knit sweaters, polar fleece and those madras plaid patchwork jackets and skirts still turn up -- really! Also there's an emphasis on plain tee-tops and turtle necks of various weight and fibers.

So I went into a local thrift store to browse and found a stripped sweater, mildly preppy but also fun colors for the gray days ahead -- well, not ahead, here and now for it was raining all morning and threatens to do so again. The back room has oddments, including a basket that had some decorator swatchs, some cross stitch kits, and the pictured piece of quilt fabric, three yards minus a 5x5" square missing from one corner. It's the kind of pattern I like to use for backing, or I might be inspired to doing something needing a lot of lilac. No price on it. At the check out, I asked how much since "there was no price marked." The gentleman manning the cash register said, "No price? You know what that means, don't you?" Thinking I was being witty, I said, "It means I get it free." "That's right," he said. And so it was. Now I call that a thrift store bargain.