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Friday, October 6, 2023

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Petting Fabric Is Good For Your Mojo....

 

Hi, all!

Well, here it is, Friday again - - - and we all know what that means!  It's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!! Are you ready?  Let's go!

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I had an adventure this week!  But first I need to tell you some back story, as kindly as I can.  For years and years (since 1988) there was a fabric store in a nearby town.  I finally went there about ten or eleven years ago (just as I was starting my quilting career) and was absolutely overwhelmed (not in a good way) by the amount of fabric in the store. The shelves were sagging under the weight of the bolts and there were hundreds of bolts on the floor.  There was little to no organization of the fabric, and no one who worked there seemed to know what they had on hand.  I even found bolts of some very early Kate Spain fabric that was long out of print.  Nothing was marked down to make way for newer fabric, but that didn't seem to stop more fabric from coming in.  I managed to last about fifteen minutes in the store before, my skin crawling, I had to leave.  Over the years, I occasionally tried again, but had the same reaction.  I never thought I would feel that way about a fabric store, but the sheer immensity of the amount of fabric and the lack of organization was just. too. much.

A couple of months ago, though, my friend Piper started talking about this great fabric store she had found that had such fabulous prices.  She told me the name, and I realized it was the same store - but it turns out that the original owner had died and her children were trying to liquidate some of the stock while trying to decide whether to keep the store open in the future.  They had moved everything to another location nearby.  I decided to give it a try once again when they were holding a back room sale, offering thousands of bolts at $3 a yard.  


I got a pretty nice haul of some fabrics for backing that time, and the store didn't make my skin crawl!  And I found out that I was not alone in feeling that way about the store as I spoke with some of the other people who were there for the sale.  Turns out it was a universal condition!

Well, this month as they celebrate 35 years in business, they are having some pretty magnificent sales, and I went back on Wednesday to see what kind of mischief I could get into....


This was my main goal - quilt shop quality fat quarters for - - - 
25 cents each!  I got 120 of them.


Then I grabbed a grab bag - about 7 1/2 yards of fabric, mostly fat quarters and half yards, for $15.


I found some jelly rolls, too - both of the big rolls contain 50 strips each, and the one on the left is Kaffe Fassett shot cotton stripes!  The one in front is only 20 strips, but still, I got all that for $35.


Two identical Bali Crackers, eighty 10" squares, for $10.


Three roll-ups for $10 each.   Two of them have 20 fat quarters and the other has 35 batik fat eighths.

So I got about 66 yards of fabric for around $130 - less than $2 a yard!

Thursday morning I had so much fun poring over my loot, counting the pieces in the roll-ups, and generally petting everything!  And I must say, petting all that fabric must be good for my quilting mojo, because after doing that I buckled down at my sewing machine and finished this baby top!


And before you ask, I'm not going to share the pattern information because I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone.  It only came in hard copy form, was badly written, had a bunch of mistakes, and was printed so small that I had to get out my magnifying glass to read!  But it was requested by my niece, so I used it.  It did turn out cute, though!



But wait - I didn't stop there!  I actually pieced a back for the baby quilt, and it is going into the stack for quilting next week!

And then I started working on another project, but I'll save pictures of that for next week, I think!  

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?


What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah

15 comments:

  1. Wow wow. You hit on a great sale. Sets my heart a flutter!

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  2. I made the 2.5-hour drive from the Plateau recently with my Devo friends. I couldn't handle the back room (only $6/yd that day) but got some good buys out front.

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  3. I would love to know the name of that store and where it is located, if you care to share.

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  4. The fabric haul is like a wonderful dream!!! You will put it to good use! The newest quilt is so sweet!

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  5. Wow! What a good deal on the fabric! Overcrowded and disorganized stores make me crazy also. I wonder how much more successful they would have been if they would have cleaned up years ago. Love the baby quilt! Sorry it was such a bad pattern!

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  6. I know exactly which store you are speaking about, and had that same experience. I visited once after they moved but didn't find any bargains, so I haven't been back. I may need to make another trip to Nashville sometime this month!! Thanks for the heads up!

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  7. You got some fabulous fabrics! I can't seem to get my link-up to finish... I keep getting a timed out message. :(
    https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/2023/10/houndstooth-mini-quilt-4052.html

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  8. Wow, that should last you for a few days.

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  9. Oh my goodness. You really hit pay dirt there. I've been in a couple of quilt shops that I quickly left because they were so jam packed and unorganized that I felt overwhelmed. I look forward to see what you make with those goodies.

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  10. I remember *that shop* - I visited it while on a road trip many years ago and it's the only time a fabric shop has actually creeped me out. Congrats on the haul you scored at their recent sale. I'm glad the heirs were able to clean up and reorganize!

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  11. The only thing I can compare it to is Weavers, a huge fabric store near Lancaster PA. The first couple times I went there, I got lost; the bolts on the top shelves were falling on you as you wandered the crowded aisles. But now it's organized and so lovely to shop in.

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  12. Lucky you to have a great sale! I love that it inspired your sewing mojo, too.

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  13. Wonderful haul! I'm sure you will make good use of it. Getting new or new-to-me fabric always seems to inspire my creativity, too!

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  14. Well I"m blown away at your haul and those prices. A tad jealous I'll admit, though I know I couldn't sew it all up, as I've got (ahem) lots here to try to get through in my lifetime! The speed you put quilts together, it'll not take too long to disappear!

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  15. Congrats on your stash infusion. Sorry about the poorly written pattern.

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