Thursday, March 3, 2016

Singing the Fabric Blues

There are never enough hours in the day for my day off. I spent a very productive day working on my budget, printing out materials for my upcoming income tax appointment, and of course having a delightful conversation with Aearwen, as I do every Wednesday afternoon.


The shopping center for my local Hancock Fabrics
isn't very upscale, but they've been there for a very long
time. I remember shopping here when it was still
called Minnesota Fabrics, before it was purchased
by Hancock. They're closing three Twin City stores,
Bloomington, Woodbury and Roseville. 


My local fabric store is closing and I'm quite sad. I happened to be driving by that part of town and saw signage covering the front windows that they were closing. So sad. However - closing also means bargains and I wasn't one to turn down opportunity. So after the groceries were put away and another load of laundry was put into the washer, I headed over there to see what might be on sale that I could use.


That leaves JoAnn Fabrics as my only choice for standard
fabric stores in my area, and that really isn't a choice at all. ICK!!!


The biggest thing I ended up with were several excellent patterns. They were already sold out of the Steampunk patterns I wanted (weeping - they were really excellent), but I was able to get one superb corset pattern, two skirt patterns and a dress pattern. I've been busy washing and putting away long lengths of calico fabric that I've had for years and I wanted some patterns I could use with all of this fabric. 50% off the pattern price (patterns normally retail for anywhere from $16 to $19) was a total SCORE. Add in a few excellent buttons for 40% off and a new thimble and double needle for 30% off, and I walked out with a small bag of deliciousness.


There's also Treadle Yard Goods, my primary source for
fine silk and extraordinary buttons, but they're small and
rather pricey. They almost closed two years ago but were
bought out by one of their employees. 


Of course, the fact that I spent an extra hour shopping (instead of just doing the grocery and the household shopping) meant I had no time to write. I think I've determined where I want to go with this year's B2MeM, though. Hopefully I'll have some time to write this morning. I'm changing my schedule up to have more eat-in breakfasts and less eat-out ones, which gives me more computer time between the gym and when I unlock the store.


There also is SR Harris, but as you can tell from the photo, this
is warehouse shopping - not easy to access and it also is a
serious drive away from where I live. It can be a treasure trove, but
not for me. I'm glad I have a good stash of fabrics stocked up
through the years. Don't think I'll be shopping for material anytime soon. 


Another nice thing about yesterday's workload was a refund I had been expecting. I had purchased and returned an item for more than $100 in mid-2014, but the refund had never appeared back in my account. I found the original email confirming that they had received the returned items and would refund my purchase price and sent it to them inquiring about the money. I received an answer today stating that the money will be in my account within 7-10 days and apologizing for their computer glitch. Not happy about the delay, but will be very happy when I have the money back.


It will be nice to have that money back in my account. I'm not
happy about the delay, but am happy that I caught it and
they were fast to respond. 


Happy Thursday, I'm off to beat the elliptical back into shape (yeah, right! Like that will EVER truly happen). Enjoy your day and be creative!


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