quiltmommie

I hope this is not an odd question, but what is a shop hop? i have been told of a lqs near by and i went and found them on facebook. they had posted about having a shop hop. i have never heard of it. so what is it? the name of the shop is cotton fields quilt shop, can not wait to check it out.

Tartan

The shop hops in my area are when several shops get together to discount fabric and have small prizes at each shop with a draw for a larger prize. Not all shop hops are the same but they are generally to get a large number of people into their shops to promote sales.

tessagin

I wondered the same because I thought it was just a bunch of friends going from one shop to another, like a poker run. That would be fun come to think of it. A poker run involving LQS and big box stores, like JoAnn's, Hancocks and others that are in the area. Only instead of playing for cards, you collect different pieces of scraps that are handed out and at the last shop, you put them together to make a block! Best voted block wins a gift card. Then all blocks are put into a sampler and donated to the charity voted on. HMMM!

Luv Quilts and Cats

Shop hops I have been on have also participated in a Mystery Quilt pattern. Each shop on the hop offers 1 part of the pattern which you pick up as you visit each shop in the hop. You don't have to go in any particular order though. We plan our trips to begin with the shop furthest away from us and work our way home. Most hops go over a 3 day or 2 day weekend. Also, hops I have been on give you a passport that you get stamped as you visit each shop. At the end, you leave your completed passport at the last shop and it gets put into a grandprize drawing. And each shop will also have a door prize that you can enter for freebies as well. It's fun and a great way to learn about new shops and explore with your quilting friends. The shops usually provide free food, such as snacks and things for lunch. It is so much fun!

QuiltE

ditto to what Tartan said ... and sometimes there are demonstrations of techniques/tools at each shop.

One that I liked a few years ago featured sewing rooms at each store ... they set up a mini sewing room, to help you get some ideas as to how to organize your sewing area and things you might want to include. That's where I saw my first design wall, and knew I HAD to have one!

Some might have featured fabrics exclusive to the Shop Hop group for a limited time.

It's not uncommon that each store has a "block" like a BOM kit that they sell ... and then there;s a completion kit you can buy to put them all together.

A recent one here featured a different quilter at each store, with a display of their work.

What I like about them is that it gets me into some LQS' that I might not normally go to, and I give myself some "me-time". Again, something that many of us tend to leave out of our schedules.

When I go on a Shop Hop, I usually go with a mission ... not necessarily to purchase.
One time I did the 4-Bs ... Bindings, Borders, Battings and Backings.
At each shop I made a point of looking at these and asking specific questions, so I could learn more.

Another time, it was all about "quilting" ... when I started to do more FMQ, I realized I had not been paying attention to the actual quilting on quilts, and more so on fabric choices, placement and overall patterns and designs of quilts.

And yes, sometimes it is a purchase mission ... where my goal is to get fabrics for a specific project.

Since I started going with my personal mission ... I discovered that I was not tempted with wreckless abandon at everything I saw! You can get caught up in that oh too easily and then after the fact say, why did I buy this?

Go ... and experience!!!
You never know what might be happening in your Shop Hop!

quiltmommie

thanks for the help. now to see if i can talk the husband in to watching our little wild man long enough for me to go and have some me time.

kamaiarigby

I also wondered what they were, it wouldn't work here as quilt shops are few and far between in this country

AliKat

Not all shop hops are the same. Read the advertising about it.

On our shop hops there is usually a Grand Prize of a very nice sewing machine if you visit all the shops. Some years each LQS has also given away a quilt made from the SH pattern, though each LQS used different fabrics. Our LQS's feature either a tool or some sort of quilting help that you can purchase at a [?] discount. Sometimes each LQS gave a block pattern for the SH quilt ... so that by going to all the shops you had the quilt pattern. Having fabric on sale is usually not a part of our SH, but most stores have a discounted fabric area.

A few of us also go on our own SH. No prizes except fun and friendship.

Scissor Queen

The state of Texas is about twice as big as New Zealand and they have a state wide shop hop every year. It does run for a whole month.

Nanny's dollface

I asked the same question yesterday. had no idea what to expect with a hop that I was doing by myself. I had the list of 8 shops of which I visited 6 on the list. The first LQS , wasn't really local as it was 80 miles away, had a table in the back of the store with a free fat quarter that went with a pattern: Santa Comes To Town by Red Rooster. Each store was different , most had separate areas for demos and the free fabric. If you brought a can of food to some stores you received a 20% discount off everything plus if you were looking for a new machine some had great deals. Overall, I had a great time even if I was alone. The one thing I must say s that if there is a multiday hop don't wait to go on day 3 if possible like I did because the shops run out of the fabric. I ended up buying fabric on line so I could complete the pattern as all the stores were sold out of the Red Rooster line.