Great weekend - Quilt Shop Hop
 

Just got back today from a quilt shop hop in NW lower Michigan. My (as the younger generation say) BFF and I left Midland Friday afternoon and drove to Gaylord. Spent the night at the cottage and Saturday we went to quilt shops in Charlevoix, Bellaire, Williamsburg, Traverse City and Interlochen. Today we stopped a quilt shop by Farwell on the way home. It was a good weekend - beautiful drive, great weather and quilt shops! At one of the quilt shops we were talking with the owner and she said the shops she had talked to did not sell all their passport bags including her shop and this year there wasn’t as many participants. She wondered if quilt shop hops were dying off. Hope not because we enjoy this one.

I'm in northeastern IL. DD and I have shop hopped in the past, but haven't at all this year. Finances are tight and we're both trying to shop our stashes (or each other's).

Love the quilt shop at Farwell.

Sounds like so much fun. I know some States I have lived in have day bus trips that included lunch, my only deterent was the 6:30am departures. I buy mostly from the internet now as it seems quilt shops charge at least $2 - $3 per yard more. I know they have overhead of keeping a store going where as selling by mail may be a cheaper way for fabric warehouses to operate.

I love shop hops. Friends and I did the Shipshewana show and shop hop this summer (it is once a year and we go every year) it is so much fun. We went on a 2 day bus trip a year ago .. It happens only every 2 years and is great fun. The shops we visited served lunch, dinner or snacks depending on our arrival time at their shop. We also do our own personal treks. There are some really great shops out there and it is my goal to keep them open. I don't need a thing but fabric and grand kids are what keep me going. My 10 yr old DGD is now a quilter and watching her get excited over quilt books and magazines makes me think she might like a bus trip next summer.

Your DGD would love a trip. My 16yo DGD has come with us a few times. Sometimes she goes in with us, sometimes she doesn't. She is not a quilter; DD and I have tried to get her interested, but so far, no luck. Darn it!

There is competition with the shop hop online and the new Row by Row. There is only so much shopping a quilter can do. Also depends on how is the weather.