Classified Ad

The Garage Sale column in the local paper ran this ad:

Estate Sale
Old quilting patterns, lots of cotton fabric for quilt tops.
Artists supplies, large easel, collectables,
costume jewelry. Fri. & Sat.
8-? 8400 East Rd. RV

And I just happened to have that Friday off; it was my 27th anniversary and DH and I had a day trip to the coast planned. But a little detour to the Estate Sale wouldn't be a problem. And what a nice way to start off a special day.

I drove by Thrusday evening so I could find the place. I got there the next morning at 7:45 am, but there was a group of people standing around waiting for the go-ahead. The women were still bringing boxes and bags out of the small clapboard house and we were told, "we're not ready yet!" I spied a sterilite stacking drawer set-up and when they gave the signal, I made a beeline for that. Didn't even ask the price at the time, just knew I wanted it.

Turns out it was a dollar a drawer!

With that tucked over by the cashier's table I went around the large fifth wheel for sale and found the boxes and barrels of fabric. Yes... *barrels* There were four large barrels full of plastic bags of fabric. I started with the cardboard boxes on the table... found an empty one and quickly sifted through the first box, moving it to the empty one. There was that air among the shoppers like we had to grab and go before the good stuff got taken by someone else, so I was moving pretty fast, deciding what I wanted and setting it in a pile under my arm - lest it should be snagged by someone else!

There were at least a dozen sets of partially pieced blocks, no finished sets that I could find, wonky piecework, bulky stitches, ghastly color combinations. It was really interesting. However these three blocks didn't seem to be from the same seamstress and the fabrics are much older than the 70s and 80s calicos most of the projects were pieced from.

So I *dug* through bin, box and barrel after barrel of fabric. This women didn't throw *anything* away. Old pajamas, cut out blouse fabric never made, faded curtains and aprons, remnants of old sheets. She obviously loved fabric, but considering how much of it was there, not much of it called my name. I bought two aprons in fairly good repair because the fabric could pass for 30s prints.

And some of the 80s calicos were just ugly enough to be fun. I pulled out cut aways and remnants, got 'em home, washed 'em up and call them calico crumbs.

After I unpacked all the barrels I moved to the knitting, embroidery and book table. Just couldn't resist some of the old tyme publications and projects. That feed sack is a neat, quality muslin. Don't know what I'll do with it yet, but it called to me. Unfortunately the quilt book doesn't have a date on it, but it has that Kansas City Star look to it.

A funky aqua and red (!?) print feed sack.

And then I cruised the rest of the sale, the kitchen drawer, the baking corner, the living room bric-a-brac, the bathroom goo-gaws. It's amazing how similar these collections look after awhile. I was aware of the fact that I was just transfering items from her collections to my collections and that was a bit scary. I mean... the adult daughters were trying to liquidate their deceased mothers' entire personal inventory. Someday my adult sons will probably have to do the same. At least I have *finished* quilts and tops in my stash. :D

I couldn't resist the bric-a-brac, even though I have so much of it of my own already.

And I wanted this cute little six unit muffin tin. Made fresh blueberry muffins Saturday morning to christen it.

I had a lot of fun, as you can tell. But the best part was at the cashier's table. Grand total: $10.00. Now that's the kind of shopping I enjoy best!