Quilter's Yard Sale

Last Saturday I was up and out the door early to attend a quilter's yard sale. The flyer said:

Quilters Yard Sale Special:
Boxes and boxes of all kinds of fabric
All kinds of patterns
Yarn and cross stitch kits
All kinds of needlecraft books
Lots and lots of thread.

YowZa! How could I NOT go?

Her selection was really amazing and the AMOUNT was almost overwhelming, boxes and boxes was right. I tactfully asked another shopper if this was a quilter's estate, did someone die? She said, "No, the woman said she just has too much stuff. She needs to pare down."

I found the "Free, take as much as you want" scrap fabric. OMGosh, several large Rubbermaid totes. I sorted through and when I went to the table to pay for other yardage she snorted at me, "Is that *all* you're taking? Maybe I need to give you a bigger bag." She was serious.

You can see my scissors on the left top

So I sorted by color, prewashed each group and then dried them outside.

Orange, pink

Cream, tan, yellow


Green, aqua


Blue, lavender


Red, purple

I asked the previous owner if she prewashed and she said no. She felt current fabrics and those you pay ten dollars and up for, don't bleed. When I got home I prewashed anyway; the water for the red wash was dark like cherry Kool-aid, and the purple, like grape. A lot of these will be used in a pieced block set with white. Prewashing saves misery later.

Interestingly enough, the first and third fabrics above were washed in the yellow, tan, cream load and the second and fourth fabrics were washed in the orange, red load. They're the same fabrics, but got over dyed as a result.

I'm excited by the new colors and prints I'm adding to my stash, these will certainly brighten up my palette. What a windfall!