Yard sale!

These are some of the ladies of the Lake Gaston Piecemakers Quilt Guild.  They are putting wonderful treasures on tables for an all out, first come, first served, grab 'em while they're hot free-for-all called our annual yard sale.

This is Lynne B standing by one of the three tables I FILLED with bags and flat folds of fabric for sale out of my ever expanding stash.  The bags were as color coordinated as I could manage, and the flat folds were 4, 6, 8, and 10 yards of various fabrics suitable for quilt backings.

Now, you need to know that as ladies, we start out politely perusing each others' tables and wares, commenting about the potential use of this or that.  But as we traverse the room, pausing at each table, our hunger for the new, the different, the unexpected, and the bargain evokes a change that is awesome to behold.

We bustle, we slide in, we stand dead center so we can see the whole thing best, no matter who else wants to see.  We pick things up, carry them around for five minutes, and then put them back down.  And all the time, we are salivating with the anticipation of what we will do to those fabrics once we get them home, even if we just sit in our sewing rooms and feel them for a bit.

Some start stockpiling.  A small mound appears in one spot on the floor.  The next bag of fabric, or the next box of Velcro, or the next pair of scissors -- whatever -- it is NECESSARY!  Bit by bit, the tops of the tables peek through as wares are purchased in the steady frenzy.  Women who came in well groomed, coifed and made up, clothes pressed, looking rested and cheerful, leave, their jackets flung over their arms as their temperatures rise with the effort to get there first and buy the best one.  Their brows glisten with perspiration (women don't sweat!), lipstick has been chewed off as budgets and choices are confronted.  Fatigue begins to show in their faces, but there's also a sense of VICTORY! They found a bargain ... or two... or several.

Our arms are heavy with bags of purchases that will soon be introduced to our stashes at home, soon be placed among the rest of the fabric family to be beamed upon and dreamed over until that perfect project is achieved. 
 

Now -- where to hide all this stuff from our hubbies until it can be sneaked into the house....