Oh, the possibilities!  About two weeks ago, I heard about a fabulous sale at a fabric store in town I used to visit with my grandmother as a child.  The chocolate-covered cherry doling old man who used to run the place had died years ago, leaving piles of valuable fabric bolts to rot in a couple of old warehouses.  Apparently, a construction company recently purchased the buildings and required their contents be emptied by the end of the month.  

A coworker informed me that a woman was attempting to sell what remaining fabric could be salvaged before sending in the garbage trucks.  Shortly after receiving her text, I was at the store, perusing piles of authentic vintage upholstery and dress fabric, along with other fellow sewers, including women from three of the surrounding Hutterite colonies.  I was in heaven!  If only I had more space in the apartment, I thought.  

The seller was looking to get rid of as many bolts as possible, and the Hutterites had loaded their Suburbans and conversion vans to the hilt.  I, however, had to consider my available storage space, so I asked to purchase some of the fabric by the yard and settled on what you see in the picture above.   The entire haul cost a total of $23!  A steal for the yards of velvet and other high-quality items I acquired!  

The only problem I ran into was that of cleanliness.  Most of the fabric smelled quite musty from its years of being shut away in dank facilities.  I washed what I could but had to hang the velvet on my parents' clothesline and spray it repeatedly with Febreeze for about four days to remove the smell.  

I have many projects in mind, including using some of the pink velvet to cover bulletin boards in my classroom.  Some of the pieces have already been put to good use, like this green and white striped number I turned into a patio rug...

 

... and the green velvet I've used as lining for my farmers market jewelry display.

Any suggestions for how to use the rest of this glorious fabric?