The Haul

Last year I set up an RSS feed from Craigslist to route any postings with the word "fabric" (minus a lot of words for furniture) to my google homepage. Every couple of days since then, I've gotten a posting from someone who is selling or giving away fabric in my area. Really, it's not been much use. Most of the things that people are electing to get rid of... well, I agree with their choice. Also there has been a very persistent and annoying ad for a Conair fabric steamer and someone just determined to find an individual willing to come pick up a sturdy cardboard tube from their home in the boonies.

Well, last Friday my day finally came, and all of those days of deleting feed articles were Worth It. The advertisement was for an interior design shop that was going out of business, and it said that they had a few upholstery sample books to give away. I had heard of people getting free upholstery samples for sewing projects, so I called them to check it out. I ended up in a room that was clearly under construction, looking at piles and piles and piles of sample books filling most surfaces. Here is what I ended up taking, all of it free, and I don't think anyone who had seen the room before I came in would have known that I took anything:

That's 30 books of fabric samples, most of it linen or linen/cotton blends. I have disassembled about 2/3rds of the books so far, including one that yielded these beauties:

Now don't get the wrong idea... these are clearly the cream of the crop, and I have been exposed in recent days to some pretty heinous fabric designs. Stuff that would make your eyeballs bleed. Stuff that belongs in a craigslist ad. All in all, though, I feel pretty lucky. :)