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By the Numbers


I finished sorting through and measuring the Goodwill auction fabric, and the yardage pieces came out to 22 different prints that totalled 29.74 yards, including 6 pieces that were 2 yards or more. The largest piec was a red and white cotton athletic print, which came in at 4 yards.

I found a total of five kitchen towels in the lot, which appear to be part of a UFO applique project. This one was fused and the maker started stitching it, but never finished.

The rest of the towels are in new condition and haven't been embellished. I checked online and this brand costs $3.68 each new.

This is probably how the applique is supposed to look once the towel is folded.

There were a couple hundred 6" X 9" rectangles cut from 27 different prints, flannels, solids and muslin.

This stack is just the flannels.

Here is the stack of muslin, solids and prints. I'd say I have another seven to ten yards of fabric that was cut into rectangles.

There really weren't a lot of scrap pieces, as it turns out. To the left are some scraps labeled with component names for a snowman project that were never cut, and some smaller rectangles and squares.

The owner of this stash sewed face masks, too, which explains why everything is so clean, in great condition and virtually odorless -- this stash came from someone who has been sewing during the pandemic.

It's tough to put a price on this lot; not counting the UFOs and the kitchen towels, I think my guess of forty yards of useable fabric is pretty close to what I have. I know the quilting cottons run about $5.99 to $7.99 a yard at JoAnn. Among the few synthetics I found two yards of a black floral woven lingerie fabric that looks expensive; I'm going to guess that cost the original owner at least $10.00 a yard.

If I price everything at $5.00 a yard, which seems about right for the mix of vintage fabrics and the condition they're in, then I have $200.00 in fabric. I paid $10.00 for the lot, so that works out to twenty-five cents a yard.

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