Holy Marimekko! (+ Giveaway)

I spent several hours yesterday sewing with members of the DC Modern Quilt Guild. One of the local public libraries has a fantastic space with tables and lots of outlets. I knew some people and met some new people and made progress on a quilt. All of which was great. I also got to eat some Thai food (my favorite cuisine) and learned that the Crate and Barrel outlet stores sell Marimekko remnants for 95 cents a pound. You read that right: the same stuff that retails for 45 dollars/yard is sold for 95 cents a pound.

At least sometimes. Since there was an outlet not too far away, I headed over there and had a great conversation with a very knowledgeable sales person. Not only did she bring out another basket of fabric from the back, but she told me that they hadn't been selling remnants for a year. But C&B reduces fabric on the bolt to $4.95/yard during their spring sale in an effort to move inventory, and they had enough remnants to put out a barrel (literally, they're in a barrel). Most of the remnants come from store decor so they may have some staples in them but are otherwise in good shape.

I walked out with 7 pounds of fabric for less than 7 dollars (as a reference point, I think a yard of quilting weight fabric is about 6 ounces based on shipping costs). While perusing the store, I noticed that they are also selling napkins made out of Kaffe Fassett fabric for about $4/napkin (outlet price!) so I'm not too concerned about their profits.

But in honor of this splendid find and recently surpassing 400 posts, I'd like to share some with you. To win some Marimekko fabric remnants -- if you don't sew, these can easily be made into cool wall hangings with canvas/wood and a staple gun or glue -- leave a comment on this post telling me what you might do with the fabric.

The fine print: 1 entry per person, giveaway open until Wednesday around 6 pm, make sure to leave a means of contact, open to US and international commenters.