Seeing the beautifully arranged stacks of quilting fabrics
many bloggers have in their sewing rooms usually makes me green with envy. Don’t get me wrong, I have lots and lots of
fabric. Most of it is upholstery weight
from my stint as a tote bag and purse designer/maker about 6 or 7 years
ago. I also have plenty of fashion
fabrics just waiting to become something spectacular, but I have never had any of
those fun, trendy modern quilting fabrics.
That ended the other day when I had one of those magical
visits to Fabric World. Yes, Fabric
World has reopened after their big sell off of $5 bolts I posted about last
summer. Now they sell just whatever they
get shipped. Mostly it is remnants –
beautiful high end remnants.
A few weeks ago I went with a gift card in hand. (Gift cards are the best because they leave no
paper trail when buying fabric.) I knew
they were selling these unbelievable remnants for $2 a yard and I have been
playing around with a few ideas for a new product to sell. I planned carefully and knew what I wanted to
get – if they had it.
When I got there, the signs had been changed:
Up to 8 inches – 25 cents
9-35 inches – 50 cents
36 inches or more – 2 dollars
There were almost a dozen extra long tables to dig through. At these prices I wished I’d brought a snack
because I knew this was going to be a long morning. I loaded up my cart. Some of my “remnants” were 4 yards long –
that is only 50 cents a yard for high end linen! I was doing my best to use self –control but
these fabrics were lovely!
I rolled my heavily laden cart over to the measuring table
to start narrowing it down when the announcement came – I hope you are sitting
down because your knees might just go weak when you read this – “ALL REMNANTS
25 CENTS!” It gives me goose bumps just
to type that! I instantly went into
Rambo mode. I rolled my cart to the
cutting table where they were counting and bagging the fabrics. 3 trash bags of fabric for $29! I ran them to my van and headed back in.
As I said I have always wanted a quilting stash and mixed in
with the home dec fabrics were Westminster Fibers fabrics. Names like Anna Maria Horner and many others were
right at my fingertips. So with my empty
cart I started to fill it with quilting fabrics. This is my new stash! Less than $25!!
And this is the sign that greeted me when I walked in the
door!
DISCLAIMER!!
If you live anywhere near Fabric World you must know that they shipped all unsold Westminster Fabrics to (sniff) a rag factory. I've been back twice since this event. They had New York fashion fabrics - $3 a yard along with paintings for $25 and the next time gorgeous home dec remnants for $4 a yard and curtain panel samples from Walmart for 25 cents each. You just don't know what you will find each time you go. It is always an adventure!
