Only shop hop I have been on had a quilt designed by a different shop each year. At each shop along they way you received a piece if the pattern and a small gift. If you hit all 10 shops you had an original quilt pattern. We had 10 days to hit all the shops. 2 weekends included. Sometimes I bought fabric sometimes not. I collected there business cards and before I left there parking lot would make notes on back of card about what kind of fabric they carried and my impression of the shop. Most of the shops I have gone back to over the years, I have called them in the past looking for special fabric. LQS are few and far between in our area. One shop (the Buggy Barn) which is now closed was a 3 hr. trip one way. I try to do this hop with a quilting friend, we take a picnic lunch, find park, and enjoy the day with friends. You will be surprised what you can find in some of these small out of the way LQS. Cost of travel can be a problem so we take my Prius, at 48 miles per gal. the cost was minimal.