Twice a year (weekend before Memorial Day weekend and also Labor Day weekend) there is Yoder's Amish and Consignment Quilt Auction and Flea Market in Clare, Michigan. They only hold it on Friday and Saturday, so I often forget about it until it is too late to go. This time, a friend called and invited me to go Saturday morning. We had a great day with lots of eye candy but I learned two important lessons yesterday.
1. Remember your camera!
2. Perpective. We were sitting about 35 - 40 feet from the "staqe". Not very good to appreciate the mini's or workmanship but a great distance to learn more about color values, placement and perspective. There were several jaw-dropping, breathtaking, stunning quilts that sold extremely successfully. About 4 went for over $1000 (the highest was around $1600) and two minis went for over $500. Even at a distance, you could tell how wonderful the quilts were because of the color placement which highlighted the intricacies of the pattern. And the hand quilting was exquisite! There was a bargello queen-sized in black grey and purple that raised the roof. It looked 3D, just like a honey comb or filter. The black receded while the light grey seemed to float on the top. I can't explain it but it was fascinating. Darn that camera! But the lesson I learned came from the near-misses. Where changing just one color choice would have changed the average quilt to show-stopper. I was sitting next to a lady who had, with her DIL, four baby quilts up for sale. The first two sold for about $50 each. But when the third one went up, she groaned and said, "Oh, no. What were we thinking?" It was a nine-patch spaced with a very busy but cute child's print in similar colors. No sashing. The colors just ran into each other. She took out her camera and got a shot of it to show her DIL, who wasn't there, what it looked like from the audience's perspective. While it went for about $40, it could have gotten much more. Several large crib quilts were sold by a group raising money for a firemen's fund. They were bright, whimsical, most were appliqued and all went for over $120 each.
I didn't buy anything - just drooled.
Posts: 1510 | Location: Middle of the Mitten | Registered: Jan 23, 2003
I often wish a quilter like me/us could sell her quilts for a decent price. Maybe enough to cover materials and a few dollars more. But I haven't figured out how to do that. Maybe I should send stuff to the auctions out east! I am glad that quilts are appreciated for their artistic value in some areas and sell for a good price.
It's a bittersweet experience because on one hand there are over 200 items up for auction (all finished). Friday's auction is unfinished tops an some small items. On the other hand some of them went very cheaply even though it was obvious there were many many hours of work in them. The auction is run by the Amish and used to be strictly for Amish-made quilts. Now it has been expanded and they will accept other people's quilts. Although they all seem to be hand quilted but don't hold me to that. The auctioneers have both had many years experience selling quilts and know their stuff. They are very good at educating the bidders and pushing up the price to get the quilter as much as possible. The barn was constantly full to capacity (about 200) although the food barn next door was calling. Home made chicken noodle soup, fresh pies by the slice and hand churned icecream. Yum!This message has been edited. Last edited by: quiltinnana,
Posts: 1510 | Location: Middle of the Mitten | Registered: Jan 23, 2003
