I have a novel idea....why not join a quilt guild and tell the nice ladies you are just getting started and aren't too proud to accept "charity"! I recently brought a lady to my sewing circle with a new embroidery machine and she didn't know stabalizer from a hoop! We all brought a little bit (some pretty threads, machine needles, stabalizer we weren't using, etc) and she was over the moon. None of us will miss the little bits and pieces, and she has something to start with, without going shopping! One lady even shared a pair of curved scissors she just couldn't get the hang of because some of us are left handed! Linda