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There is a fairly regular circuit which I travel, hitting most of the local quilt stores and big box fabric centers, but my local Wal*Marts no longer carry fabric. (Insert sobs here.) This weekend, our 4-H middle and high school students were attending their individual project competitions at Rock Eagle, the worlds’ largest 4-H center, near Eatonton, GA.
( http://www.rockeagle4h.org ) The bus and entourage stopped in nearby Madison for supper on Friday evening. Because my co-worker and I had been teaching 5th grade classes as the bus departed for the Rock, we took my vehicle. We missed the group at the appointed supper stop, so we pulled into Wal*Mart for a quick sub sandwich.

“Oh, while we’re here,” our intertwined minds connected, “let’s check out the fabric.” An hour later, two shopping carts full, and lot’s of laughs with two cutters and a few other customers, we finally went to our original destination, the sub shop at the front of the store. We made it to the Rock in time to make our beds, and begin rehearsing presentations with our students, attend an evening assembly, adult job assignments and orientations, and return to cabin to continue listening to presentations. It was after one a.m. when we turned out the lights, and I began dreaming of pastel and animal quilt patterns.

Did I / we go overboard? Hummn, we would say at $2.50 a yard, no. Our husbands, on the other hand, if they had an opportunity to examine our mountains of fresh stash, would disagree with us at any price.

On Saturday evening, I brought my haul into the cabin to cut swatches for my book, so I could shelve the fabric when I got home. As I fondled the unusually fine quality of Wal*Mart fabrics, I laid them out on one of the well worn sofas of the day room of our cabin. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos. I then clipped my swatches, and was in the process of getting them into the swatch book when we had to depart for another assembly. Three weeks from now, as I travel to another Wal*Mart in West Virginia, (which still has fabric) I may gather some more of these luscious fibers. Unfortunately, at these prices, much of it will become part of the 4-H stash. This is the section from which my students make their project purchases. O.K. I admit, I had that in mind when making selections; some for the kids, some for me.

Here is a quick attempt at a photo montage of the fabrics so I could upload only one photo.