Wednesday 30 January 2013

starting the New Year in the right way

How?
By adding to the stash, of course! Open-mouthed smile

Last week, I visited the Big Box Store (not the real name of the store; it’s a crafts and home-wares chain store) to buy some fabric to bind Dotty Bright. While there, I found myself in the yarn department and picked up a couple of bargains that weren’t advertised in the catalogue (they were specials in this store only).

Let me explain: The store had some yarn they wanted to clear so they marked it down to clearance prices. It wasn’t moving quickly enough, so a sign on the table advertised 50% off the clearance prices!

So here are my purchases:

Firstly, sock yarn (as if I needed any more!): I don’t have these two colourways and at $2.50 for 100g I couldn’t resist! This particular yarn, at full price, is $11.99 for 100g.
2013-01-26  sock yarn
And no, I’m no trying to brag; I want overseas readers to understand how much we pay for craft materials here. Remember, this is a chain store with discount prices, sock yarn at my local LYS starts at $24.99 a ball!

Secondly, what I consider my bargain of the month – not only was it heavily discounted, but the sale yarn included my favourite colour!
2013-01-24 Silken Soft
It’s a 90/10 blend of cotton/silk. It was marked down to $3.00 a ball and to clear it out, they were taking another 50% off. Twenty balls (all in the same dye lot) for $30.00 – what a bargain!

On Saturday I returned to the store. This time I had DD with me. It’s a rare treat for her to get out without the boys so she made the most of it. I could say it was all her fault but it wasn’t really; I had already made up my mind what to buy before I got there.

Before I go any further, overseas readers probably need to know that fabric in this chain store normally starts at $12.99 a metre, and in Australian quilt stores, fabric starts at $24.99 a metre. (Just take a moment to absorb that…     Okay, you can resume normal breathing now!)

So you can understand that when I say “bargain”, I mean BARGAIN (sorry for shouting)!

I bought three metres of each of these fabrics for $4.00 a metre (yes you read that correctly!) That amounts to a discount of 67%-75%!
2013 January backing fabrics
These fabrics were purchased with the intention of using them as backings. I’ve used the top one already! (yes, that means there's quilting in progress but that's another post)

And I bought at least two metres of each of these solids. The normal price of homespun in this store is $6.99 a metre – at $4.89 a metre it seemed like a good time to stock up. (What’s that? How much is homespun in LQS? Oh, $14.99 a metre! Do I need to remind you to breathe again?)
2013 January solids
Navy, Natural, Black, Sand, Petunia, Grass Green, Chestnut, White, Fig, Iron, Regatta Blue

 This fabric was bought for sashing and binding.

DD found these two fabrics in the remnant bin and somehow they found their way into my purchases. The one on the left is homespun, more reddish than shown here. The one on the right is flannelette.
2012 homespun and flennelette

And finally I bought this fabric to make a quilted tablecloth for our new glass topped (outdoor) table. There is enough there to make a couple of placemats for when there is only WM and I.
2013 tablecloth

And, it doesn't stop there: I won these eight fat quarters from a give-away late last year on Wish Upon a Star blog.
2012 Blue Beach House eight fat quarters 12012 Blue Beach House eight fat quarters 2
Thanks Mrs A! I don’t know what I’ll do with them but I’m sure I’ll think of something! Winking smile

So, I guess I’d better get sewing!

14 comments:

  1. You mean we have to admit to how much fabric etc. we bought this month too? Oh boy, I could be in trouble as I bought way more than I used! Love your new yarn colors. You got some really great buys on the fabric too. And then to win more....look out world, she is busy.

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  2. Great haul. I can't get over the prices you have to pay for supplies. Can you order from companies in the US online? Do they charge extra fees for entering the country?

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  3. I just thought fabric was expensive here! You did very well with your acquisitions. Happy sewing!

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  4. Haha, I also just went stash shopping! Looks like you made out great!

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  5. I sympathise, as we have the same issue here - fabric in quilt stores starts at around £8 or £9 per metre - and that's not for the very best stuff. (That's like AUS$15 or more to start.) And new ranges and batiks are quite a bit more. That's why I was really pleased to pick stuff up for £3/metre at my big sale recently... Americans have no idea how we struggle in the rest of the world, lol.

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  6. What a wonderful bargain shopping spree. It sure is too good to pass up at those prices.

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  7. You did well on the bargains. In the UK solids are often between £6 and £10 depending on where you buy ($9.44 to $15.) and prints are £10 to £16 ($15 to $25)If you shop around you can get them for less but if you are wanting a particular fabric especially recent designs it's difficult to find them. I often buy from US online stores when they are having a sale and even with the shipping my order is cheaper than I can buy here.

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  8. I find I can often buy fabric for less(including the shipping fee) from the US online stores when they are having a clearance sale than I can here in the UK. Even at full price with the shipping it only costs the same as here and I can get the designs before they appear in the shops.

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  9. Where I live, we pay a lot for these craft materials....
    For example 1 meter of Christmas fabric I've bought for the back of my ornaments was €6,50. And it was the cheaper one...

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  10. Ahh, that is why I avoid those wonderful craft stores near my work! I spend way too much in spite of myself! It sure is fun when I do go into the stores, though. Those colors, fabric and yarn are just beautiful.
    I am still trying to figure out how to knit socks, but have a few skeins of yarn for them. :-)

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  11. Eee! I really really like the little car fabric. Great score! You're shopping like a champ :)

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  12. I love looking at other people's purchases. I go out every Saturday to look for wool and material bargains. Sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes I'm not, but I always enjoy looking.

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  13. Great bargains! And car fabric! I can never say no to car fabric!

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