I ended up with three totes of fabric from the auction I went to on Sunday. I thought I’d follow and see how I did monetarily. Won’t it be kind of fun to see if I got a steal, a deal or was robbed. I already know I was robbed on the patterns. I told you about that in this morning’s post and how I’m sure someone moved the patterns around to different boxes to suit her liking.
That didn’t happen with the fabric….at least not in my situation.
The first box I bought cost $30. I didn’t have this one on my list to buy but the fabric was too cheap to pass up especially with that backing piece right on top that says 10 yards on it…but what was under that $10 piece. I had no idea until I brought the box home. Incidentally, this box was the largest and the cheapest.
Here’s what I found.
The red piece is the 10 yard piece. The cream is an 8 1/2 yard piece and there’s two stripes I like that are a yard each.
Under that fabric in the bottom were these flannels. The stacks are fat quarters…then the cat fabric is larger. I’ve said before that I don’t really sew flannel. Ruby hair totally sticks to it so I don’t use it. If there is anyone that wants it and will use it make a charity quilt, drop me a note and I’ll put it together and pass it along. There are 20 fat quarters there not including the cat fabric.
There were these…there’s 8 yards total there.
This is all striped fabric. There’s 7 1/2 yards there and I’m offering this up to anyone who can use it for charity quilting. It’s not my style…perfectly good fabric, just not me.
Also in the box was this…it’s the start of a quilt. There are eight star blocks finished and 12 more cut out. It’s a stack and whack style of quilt.
See how the blocks are all just a little bit different? There is more fabric to make even more blocks. Is anyone interested in finishing this up for charity? There aren’t any instructions so an experienced quilter might want to tackle this one. Again…drop me a note if you’re interested in finishing this up.
So…here’s the final stats on this tote of fabric. I paid $30.
There was
10 yards backing
8 1/2 yards of backing
1 fat quarter
20 flannel fat quarters
8 yards of smaller cuts
7 1/2 yards of stripe for charity
2 yards stripe I’m keeping
plus the started blocks
If I just say $10 a yard for fabric and $3 for fat quarters I think that’s a fair price-
I ended up with $418 worth of fabric PLUS whatever value should be placed on the started project. $130 worth of that is not my style and I’m donating it on to charity. So I ended up spending $30 for $350 worth of fabric that I really like and hope to use.
The next tote I bought was the Civil War fabrics. This tote was smaller but it was packed to the VERY top and getting the lid on took a little persuasion. This box was $70. There were a few other Civil War fabrics sprinkled into the other totes but this was the only one that was entirely Civil War reproductions. I loved it as it seemed like it might be full of scrappy goodness.
Check it out…..
I was TOTALLY right on my guess that there would be scrappy goodness here!! It’s primarily a tote of fat quarters-a few fat 1/8’s.
There were 5 that I didn’t consider Civil War fabrics. They would easily blend in color and it wouldn’t be a big deal to throw them in but I was sorting and wanted to note this.
This is the fat quarter haul- a few were fat 1/8’s.
I ended up counting them all out into stacks of 25…I counted two fat 1/8’s as one fat quarter.
Can you believe there were 178 all totaled?? Call me HAPPY!!
In the bottom of the tote were 10 charm packs. Two were unpackaged. How perfect is it that I already have a couple of some of these?
There was a scrap pile….BLISS!!
These were all 1 yard cuts. There are two of the brown ones on top.
To the left are 1/2 yard cuts and to the right 2 yard cuts.
This template set was in there too.
Totaled for this tote:
178 fat quarters
5 fat quarters (not Civil War)
10 charm packs
7- 1 yard cuts
4- 1/2 yard cuts
2- 2 yard cuts
templates and scraps
Again figuring $10 a yard for fabric, $3 a yard for fat quarters and $9 for a charm pack…total is $789 worth of fabric in this tote. SCORE!
Call me HAPPY!! I love every piece in the box. The fun thing about this was that although I have a lot of Civil War prints, I didn’t have many of these at all. Of all of it, I’d say I likely have duplicates of 12 fat quarters. That’s really good I thought.
The last box I bought was the batik box. It really was the only box of batiks out of all of that fabric at the auction. I knew this tote was considerably smaller so my deal wouldn’t be very good.
This is the tote all straightened out….
There are 1/2 and 1 yard cuts….
Scraps…Hooray!!
44 fat quarters.
Calculating this box out….I paid $65 and there is a $162 value there. I’d keep every piece in the box.
One thing I learned about myself after going to this auction is that I am scrappy. PERIOD. The other totes had one or two yards of each fabric in them. Those totes held no appeal to me at all. I always knew I scrappy. I’ve always said, “Scrappy = Happy” , but I never really knew how much I prefer scrappy. As I’m writing this now, I am thinking, trying really had to think of a quilt I’ve made that was more of a planned quilt with 5 fabrics. I can’t think of one. Long ago I did sew one for my sister-in-law but she had picked out the fabrics. Hmm. Interesting.
One thing that wasn’t at the auction that wish would have been…the real scraps. The little left overs…the strings…the pieces that are only 4 x 4. Now that would have had to come home with me for sure.
All totaled I spent $165.
The total value of the fabric if calculated like I did it would total $1369 if bought in the fabric store. Oh my….I did good. Do note that I put no value on either scrap pile or the started quilt blocks. Also note that $130 of the fabric was not my style and I’ll be moving it on. Speaking of such, if you’re interested in the flannel fat quarters or the blocks and are willing to finish it for charity drop me a note at rogjok@iowatelecom.net.
So…When I first got to the auction and the first tote went for $100…that wasn’t too bad. Now that I know what I know and have calculated this out, I’ll know how to bid should I ever go to an auction with fabric again.
Woohoo! Happy scrappy! Can’t wait to see what you make!
Wow, what bargains!!! I know you will put all of your treasures to good use and can’t wait to see what you come up with. Bonnie Hunters new book will be out soon, some of these pieces are just going to be destined for quilts out of her book. I wish I could finish the star blocks but I’m not very good at working without a pattern.
I would love the piece of Kate Spain “Flurry” fabric. It’s the Christmas striped fabric. I would be happy to pay you for the fabric and shipping. I have a jelly roll of the same line so I think I could get two small jelly roll race quilts with borders for our local hospital.
Oh my Jo! I was looking at your photos close up and those are beautiful fabrics. That will keep you sewing for a long time!
Looking at the Civil War fabric, I could picture a couple of quilts to make from that. As for the batik, I have some , but I don’t know what to make from those. You really hit the lottery at this auction. Congrats. Thanks for sharing.
Good finds Jo! Those boxes of fabrics are amazing. I agree about being scrappy = happy. I have been quilting for years and have mostly gravitated to using the ‘bits and pieces’. I have over the years of quilting have gotten stuck in the decisions – what to use for borders, backing, what quilting pattern to use, what thread to use, for heaven’s sake. Imagine my stress standing in a fabric store with all of those fabric choices!!! Making a scrappy quilt really eliminates the stress for me. It was such an a-ha moment for me when I figured that out. And happiness is – the bags of scraps that my quilting group friends bring to me, because they don’t want to ‘deal with the scrap’.
Hi–read your blog daily and today’s blog post has me colored GREEN!!!!! with envy. Up in Canada we pay $20.00 @ meter (39″ instead of 36″). We have to travel 2-4 hrs. every which direction to get to a fabric shop. I work with an auction and there are no fabrics to be found!!!!
there.
Doesn’t stop us from enjoying sewing—we do buy online and occassionally make that FABRIC RUN!!!!!
Enjoy reading all that you do. Thanks——TillieJane
Love it! There are a LOT of quilters in my area so there are not a lot of auctions where I would win :( but I would rather the charity group that buys get the bargains :) They make quilts for the homeless shelter and a few other places in town which need the fabric hugs. When I see a yard of fabric which I love I think of it as 4 fat quarters to use in my scrappy quilts. Nobody says the yardage has to be used in the same quilt. Sometimes I bring the yard home and cut it into fat quarters. I give away one or two and put the others in my fat quarter bins.
I just took a class on using a stripe to make an interesting table runner. Would take the one yard stripe or any stripe that others done’t want. I quilt for Lutheran World Relief and also a local charity project for guild. Fabric never goes to waste in my home. Thank you for all you do! What do you need or want?
P.S. The stack and whack stars would be happily completed here! I just brought home another bunch of already cut out stars and now am inspired to finish that up. You sent me a box of flannel pet squares and I made a nice pet sized quilt that I’m taking to the local dog thrift shop. Thank you! I also have a closet full of shirts if you need any.
Oh,my! What happened – did the poor lady die???? She sure had a great stash!!! ;)
Yes the owner of the fabric passed away. I heard her husband and daughter worked to get it all together and organized for the sale.
I’d love to have the flannel–it is my favorite fabric! Love to make soft, cuddly donation quilts.
Thanks for offering. Someone else beat you to the flannels.
Wow!!!! What a score! :)
You did great Jo! Love all the fabric and it was very cost efficient!!!!
Scrappy – Happy indeed. Those totes were a excellent buy and all those wonderful civil war prints!
It made me very happy to read about what a good deal you got and to see all your finds presented so nicely in the photos. I am thinking of what a blessing you and other charity quilters are to so many people. Thanks from someone who has neither the skill nor the time to do a lot of quilting for charity. I’m more like Kayla with the crochet and knitting for charity. There is a charity run out of Detroit that sets up homeless moms with kids in housing and the housing is furnished by donations. My next charity goal is to send some warm snuggly items for them.