Fiber Babble: Shopping

Shopping

May 24, 2010

On the new ground the Pagan Stone stood, silent in the streaming sun. "The Pagan Stone" by Nora Roberts ♦♦♦♦◊

So. 'way back on the 17th I started this post. I titled it. I inserted the Last Line. I put in the code for the pictures (but no pictures). Then I saved & closed & planned to come back.

Ahem.

I seem to have forgotten what I was going to say.

So let's wander through my camera and see if I can come up with some photos related to "Shopping", shall we?

On the 3rd Saturday of the month, we noticed that our usual early morning attendance of quilters at the shop was a quite a bit sparser than is normal. Around noon, they started trickling in, all with the same story: "I would have been here earlier but there's a huge 'garage' sale over at the high school. Some lady passed away and all of her craft and sewing stuff is up for sale."

The boss immediately hot-footed it over to the high school to see what she could see. Then she calls me from there: "Get your shoes on [does she think I work barefooted normally?] and be ready. I'm on my way back and you need to get over here right away!"

So, at about 2:00 in the afternoon I'm calling Mr. W. telling him that the boss says I have to go to a garage sale so I was gonna get some cash from the machine. Uh huh, he says.

Here's what I was met with when I found the high school auditorium (inexpertly stitched picture):

What you're not seeing is the wall of sewing machines on the left, the wall of fabrics on the right and the wall of books & patterns behind me. What you are seeing is dollmaking, bread-baking, knitting, macrame, weaving, painting, and, well, you name it. If there was a creative endeavour to be done, this lady apparently did it. And did it in a BIG way.

We're talking CASES of pre-wound bobbins (.25 per box!). TWO tables' worth of doll/craft/sewing patterns. Zippers. Beads. Nearly an entire table just full of SCISSORS of all shapes and sizes.

And don't forget, I got there after the sale had been going for at least 6 hours. This is what was LEFT.

I looked at everything. I shopped. I put whatever-the-heck-I-wanted into my shopping bag. Willy, meet Nilly.

I have always wanted a light box, but never wanted to store one. But, hey! There was a perfectly good Holly Hobbie Light Up Drawing Desk right there with a $1 price sticker on it. How could I pass that up??

And here is said Holly Hobbie Light Up Drawing Desk in action, fewer than 12 hours later! The original-looking bulb was still in it and it still worked!! (There's a story to go with what's being traced on my Holly Hobbie Light Up Drawing Desk, but that will have to wait, okay?)

I got some patterns, I got a little bit of fabric, I got some DPN's that are thinner than toothpicks but 8" long. I got a couple of small kitchen-y things that I can never have too many of (bowl scrapers, for the curious).

But here is something that was a total no-brainer:

Big Woo, you say? Yes, indeed, I say. You see, I used to be a dollmaker. Velvet, brocade, silk, maribou, satin foo-foo fancy dancy dolls. And I used to be a bear maker. Handmade, original stuffed bears - some to be dragged around and slept with (usually for children, but not always!) and some to be displayed and kept out of the reach of little hands. And I also used to make "rag" dolls to be loved to pieces or displayed on Gramma's bed.

There was a time when I was neither a quilter or a knitter.

But then one day I made the little blondie doll using this pattern. (Actually I remember very clearly that it was in the evening and I was working on the dining room table and the TV was on in the living room and 'Dracula' with Gary Oldman was on. Not that it stuck with me or anything.) And I thought to myself, "It would be cute to make that matching quilt from the leftover fabric in the dolly's jumper." (It was a Southwest-flavored flannel and she was wearing denim slippers, BTW) So I walked to the condo next door, where I knew my neighbor was a quilter. I later found out she was A Quilter, but at first I didn't know the difference.

I said, "I'd like to make this little quilt. Can you help me?"

She said, "Yes, but before we begin I need to warn you: Quilting is addictive."

I said, "Hahahah. Err, okay."

And the rest is history.

Labels: babble

permalink

4 Comments:

At 5/24/2010 12:43 PM,

quilton Babbled Back:

wow, what a sale! Did everything get sold Fiber? Wish I lived closer. I would have high-tailed it over there with you, shoes or no shoes!

At 5/25/2010 5:13 AM,

Crispy Babbled Back:

Holey Moley, that lady must of had a HUMONGOUS house to store that much stuff!! Great deal on the light box, I thought I did well getting one for $10.

I wonder what you were drawing up?!?!?!?

Crispy

At 5/26/2010 5:39 PM,

Gimpy Cat Babbled Back:

Holy dooley I cant believe that garage sale. I dont whats more pressing in my thoughts, that one person amassed so much stuff (boggles the mind to think what she must have produced craft wise in her lifetime) and it makes me sad to think she had no one to leave it to (except if you were left that youd need to rent an office building to fit it all in)

Glad you had fun and I highly approve of your holly hobby light board, it would go perfectly with my holly hobby sewing machine. I had one as a child and when I grew up adn the wonders of ebay arrived I replaced my long lost machine. It makes me smile eveyr time I see it.

Glad you are blogging again - its about time.................LOL

At 5/28/2010 10:16 AM,

Ann Champion Babbled Back:

Holy cow..what a sale! Can you imagine what it looked like when the first people arrived? I would have needed a wagon. :)
I have a Mickey Mouse light box..very similar to your new treasure..except it's red. They're so nice to have.