My LQS here is participating in a quilt shop hop. I'm wondering if anyone has done these in the past. The farthest shops would make me drive almost two hours just to get to the store. Do you think it would be worth it? I've never done one before. This event is offering patterns at each store, as well as drawings for fun prizes and special sales. I'd love to hear your opinions.

I have been doing the shop hops for the last 6 years or so
I go with a friend and we have a good time. They usually have kits ofr blocks at each store and each store has a different setting kit you can buy.
Sometimes I get the kits and sometime I don't. We just take a couple of days and have a good time with it. You have 2 like to drive and go to a lot of shops.lol real burden lol.
Goong on a mimi on at the end of October
Hope this helps

live2quilt

I've done a couple when I was stateside and had a blast.
Find a friend to go with you.

I did a local one (had to drive 90 minutes to the farthest) and didn't love it. It was nice to conquer my fears of highway driving and see parts of AZ I hadn't seen before, but I felt obligated to buy when I got there, since they were giving me free stuff. So I ended up buying a lot of things I have yet to use and only sort of wanted (and the comment I know I'm going to get is "you don't have to buy"... I just felt guilty).

I do the online FabShopHop and I like it. Easy to do from the comfort of my own home and no obligation/guilt to buy.

I do the shop hop with two friends, we have a blast. We take turns driving, the driver get lunch, and the riders pay for the gas. There were a lot of shops that I only bought the quilt block. There were others that I wanted everything I saw.

I would say find a friend and go for it!

If you can participate in local hop shops....DO IT!!! It is such fun! I plan ahead and map them all out...I had one that took me from 7:30am to after 5pm...I went all day...drove 100's of miles...picked up a block for $5 from each...some extra fabric I liked to finish it...fun! Fun! You not only get to see allllll the shops around you that are in it...but, meet the people around the area, those running the shops, etc. Then you will know which shop will be worth the drive later! Plus the prizes usually are worth the try to win:)If anything....you have a project to play with later doing all the blocks! I have one here in about a week....I can't wait! Our local shop hop is doing the 30's fabrics! How fun is that?!! Sometimes they do something so ugly I can't even imagine what they were thinking! We have enough quilt fads w/colors, etc....you'd think they'd stick w/something popular! Anywhoooo....they are worth it! Don't miss out of the excitement!Skeat

Only a two hour drive would be a great shop hop! Load up your girlfriends and make a day of it! You'll have a great time.

Before the farthest shop dropped out of our shop hop it took two full days to get to all the shops here but we always had a blast.

Most shop hops invlove more than one store,I tried to do the one here in So Az,but it was way too many stores that were spread out far and wide,and while they were giving really great prizes who had to visit all the shops to be eligible,and I wasn't

Our guild does one every year. Usually, there are too many shops to visit in one day, so the following day a few of us will get together and visit the rest ourselves. We always have a great time

It's amazing the variety of fabrics that are available. It's nice to see what other shops offer or specialize in, as well as to get a feel for the different shops themselves. If they are two hours or less away, you may find a new shop you love - or a place that offers classes you don't have closer.

I say go for it! Chances of winning a prize are probably small - hundreds of people usually participate - but it's still a lot of fun.

Not enough shops in my area to have one. :cry: I do online shop hops. I won a sewing machine a few years ago from the FabShopHop.