Did I Make a Haul, or What???

Last week I decided to make a trial run on a little Hexie table topper before tackling a larger project.  While in Walmart for a few things, this fabric jumped out in front of me and said "Take me home with you!"  The colors match my kitchen curtains and a rose picture over my table, so I said "Okay."

So last Thursday I got started.  Here's the first blocks, just cut, not stitched together yet.  I'll make a table topper, or maybe a tablecloth that I will actually use, for my kitchen table.

On Friday my son stopped by, and I asked if he had a while to help me get some mulch for the rose garden, and he did.  (But that's another story; not for this post.)  Then I asked if he could help me get a 4'x8' styrofoam board home from Lowe's so I could make a design wall.  (I do need something to put those hexies on, right?)  Again, he agreed to help.  It never occurred to me that we couldn't get it in his little SUV!  I had to call a neighbor to bring her pickup to get it home; for that, I promised to make her favorite cookies, which I did on Saturday.

On Saturday, I went to Hobby Lobby in a nearby town and got the flannel for the design wall.  Then on the way home, I stopped a flea market on the highway --- something I'd never done  before.  After looking through all the junk inside and out, I started out to my car, but saw one more room I had not been in, so I went back in.

A lady was digging through some bins of fabric so I waited until she moved over a bit,  and then I started digging in the bin too.  There was more on some shelves, and she seemed to be putting out more fabric from several more bins.  I asked how much a couple of pieces, maybe 2-3 yards each, would cost, and she said, "You'll want it; it's really cheap."  I asked, "How much is cheap?"  She said "Fifty cents or a dollar maybe."   So I stacked out several more pieces, and then noticed two bolts of fabric; one was almost a full bolt, and the other still had the manufacturer's label and unopened plastic around it; they were meant to go together!  When I asked the price for those, again she just said "Cheap."  So I put them in my stack.  She added it all up and said it would cost $12.00.  This is what I got; each cut piece has no less than three yards, and it is either RJR, Robert Kaufman, or Marti Michele for Maywood (the unopened plaid bolt), except that the large tan piece on the left is 3.5 yards of Benartex "Documentary" 100"+ wide backing that had been washed.  I roughly measured it all at home to be a total of 44 yards for $12.  Can you believe it?  Here's the pictures.

Still there is more included in that $12!  A Double Wedding Ring flimsy, all together except for stitching the last row on, which will make it 72" x 48", and most of it hand appliqued!  Certainly I had to have that!  Still included in the $12.00!  It may have been a kit, but isn't it beautiful?

Needless to say, I had to tell my best quilting buddy, and we went back to the flea market on Sunday afternoon, straight to the fabric!  This is what I got then for $4.00, mostly fat quarters and one yard pieces, a few 2.5" strips, and the Presidents panel.   A lot of it is Civil War fabric, and then some that's a little wild.  It all came to about 16 yards for the $4.00.

My friend got several pieces of 8 to 10 yards each, lots of smaller yardages and some cake squares; we measured and calculated her haul to be about 1475 yards total, for a measly $35.00!   Wish I'd taken a picture of all she got.

All of mine and all of hers were really good fabrics:  RJR, R Kaufman, and Moda mostly.  We did some figuring and learned each of us paid about 25 to 30 cents per yard on the average.  Most of mine will probably  still be here when I die, only to be sold again, or given away to my friends or charitable organizations.   I really need more fabric!  (Have I convinced you yet?)  Really now, I just could not let such a sale go by unnoticed!  It is all creating a bit of a storage problem.  I guess storage bins will be my next purchase, but then, where will I put those???

Then I go to quilt guild meeting tonight, help finish the borders on the next church quilt on Wednesday, go to the doctor Thursday, and then go to the Ellis County Guild quilt show at Midlothian on Friday.  Whew! This week is making me tired already!

Right now, I've got to go stitch hexies, and figure out how to get started on that design wall!  Any suggestions??

---"Love"