Shopping Spree Contest Winner

Last week I posted about the awesome shopping spree that I had attended at our guild meeting and asked readers to guess how much I spent (without going over) and how much yardage I came home with (not counting the scraps). 10 people left guesses.

Of course, while taking photos for today I think I discovered why my count had been different than the staff at the sale. Either way it doesn't affect the contest as Denise won both categories!! We always joke that we are so much alike that there must have been some mental telepethy going on here... Congrats, my friend!!

Yardage was on sale for just $3 per yard and all the pieces were already marked. Someone(s) had spent a lot of time preparing for this sale. I was able to pick up 5.5 yards for $16.50.

FQs were $1.25 each with quantity discounts, namely 13 FQs for just $10. Some of the FQ had a small piece missing and most were bigger than a FQ. And this is where our figures were off. I thought I had picked up 6 yards and 26 FQ but the sales staff only counted 5.5 yards and must not have counted the FQs because I found a striped half yard folded like a FQ (without a yardage tag). Oops. I got 26 FQs (or 6.5 yards) for $20 and the folded half yard was free.

Two huge bins held scraps. Some were fairly small scraps but the bins included anything less than a FQ. Each quart bag was $1 and I could stuff them with the best! This 14" wide bowl has a 9" high pile of those scraps and they weren't fluffed at all, just how they came out of mythree overstuffed bags. I meant to weigh them to figure out yardage but ran out of time. This was just $3.

That brings us to the checkout stand... I spent $39.50 and came home with 12.5 yards plus the scraps.
Denise guessed $39.00 for 12.5 yards. Creepy!

Shopping Spree Contest

Tuesday was guild meeting and we met at the local KidStart facility (associated with ARC, Hilltop Industries and several other programs) for a computer related program and tour. Someone had donated a lot of their stash and some of the guild members thought it should be sold as a fundraiser for KidStart. KidStart thought they would only make $200 but we wowed them with over $900!

I didn't think to take any pictures of the sale but apparently when I got there at 5:30, a lot of good stuff was already gone. No problem, cuz I still found plenty! I'm generally on a no-buy but at these prices, who could resist?

There were 2 huge bins of scraps, which were basically anything less than FQ size down to selvages. It was $1 per quart sized bag and you could really stuff them full and have someone help else zip them closed. :)
 

There was a table of kits and other stuff which didn't interest me but then there was the table of yardage at just $3/yard.
 

There was also another table of FQs at just $1.25 each with quantity discount prices.

So this is the money shot - my haul.
BTW - I think just about every "yardage" piece and even some of the scraps had selvages = bonus!!!

I'll send a FQ to whoever guesses how much I spent, without going over.
Another FQ goes to whoever guesses closest to how many yards of fabric I purchased (yardage + FQ).

Winners will be posted on 6/28/12 and I'll take guesses up until I am ready to post the winners.
Good Luck!!!

Wazzit Wednesday Contest Solution

As you hopefully saw last week, I posted a photo id contest for Wazzit Wednesday. Only 4 people posted guesses but let me tell you that no one should have been shy about posting a guess because I don't know how many of them I would have known if I hadn't been the one taking the pictures. I never said they were (all) vegetables but the leading photo which included the veggie garden was a big hint.

I had asked contestants to be as specific with their guesses as possible and while most people at least got it close, no one was able to guess the specific vegetable/plant (ex: peas versus snow peas). Again, I wouldn't have known myself and if anyone HAD been able to guess, I would have fallen out of my chair in surprise. So, lets get to the results...

1. Spaghetti squash - I think they're technically a winter squash but I had 2 people guess it was a summer squash and my online research said it's a very fine line now a days between summer and winter squashes. That little 3-finger squash was not there a week ago when I took the first picture. I am hoping I get a decent number of squash given the number of blossoms and distance the vine seems to be expanding into.

2. Red Potatoes - I've never grown white potatoes so I have no idea if there is a way to tell the difference by the blossoms. I was late hilling these big boys so I have seen little starter potatoes and I'm looking forward to seeing how many there will be this year. I'm hoping each year that I work the garden and pull out more and more rocks they will get bigger because little bitty potatoes don't go far, even if it's just me to feed. One person guessed potato but don't they just look live overgrown weeds?

3. Snow Peas - I did have several guesses for peas but no one guessed snow peas. I'm thrilled to report that all peas photographed in preparation for this post were harmed (eaten) in the production of pictures. How's that for a healthy breakfast, straight off the vine!? And yes, those are sticks you see there. I stick forked branches into the dirt around the pea vines as a poor man's trellis. I think next year I need taller and sturdier branches - some of them are leaning over.

4. Purple Pepper - Yup, you read that right, PURPLE! Again, they are the only peppers that I have grown so I have no idea about differing flowers - I did have 3 votes for some kind of pepper. These will start out green and turn purple as they mature. The inside stays green which means they look great on a veggie platter.

5. Tomato - I can't honestly remember which plant I photographed so it could have been a standard type tomato or grape tomatoes. I took photos of both plants to show how they are doing. Everyone recognized tomato blossoms. Anyone have a recipe for fried green tomatoes? I'm game this year to try it since I seem to have a much bigger crop on my 3 tomato/2 grape tomato plants.

Bonus - Gilt Edge Toad Lily - hey, I didn't say they were (all) veggies. No winners here but again, this is the first time I have even seen this shade plant and I didn't know if anyone would guess what they tiny flowers are. The leaves directly under my finger tips are part of the Toad Lily which is more of an upright plant. The similar leaves behind my hand are part of a Solomon's Seal which has little white flowers that hang below the leaves on arching branches.

So, of the 4 contestants - two had four correct answers and two had two correct answers. Be sure to check your emails because I decided to send a little something to everyone and a bigger something to the contestants who each guessed 4 veggies. Congrats to all!

And, just because they are my fav - my lillies opened this weekend!!!

Wazzit Wednesday Contest?!

We're gonna play a little game today...can you guess what plants these flowers come from? Please be as specific as possible. The person who gets the most answers correct will get a little prezzie in the mail. The person who gets the bonus question will get a different prezzie. The most comments I have ever had was 9 so you have a pretty good chance of winning. Winners will be announced next Wednesday! Please make sure I have your email address if you comment anonymously. Good Luck!

Here's part of my backyard...the red and green maple trees and hammock are mine. The pool, gazebo and garage are the neighbors.

Feel free to enlarge Wazzit pictures for a better view:

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Bonus question: