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Another crazy day of shop hopping! Because I can participate in the hop only on weekends, I have to visit shops in bunches…AND, due to personal commitments (Easter, my husband’s birthday, etc.), I have only a handful of weekend days to work with.

Today, we visited SEVEN shops. Holy moly! They were:
Mystic Maine Quilts
Whippersnappers
Yardgoods Center
Stitches Fabric and Yarns
Cotton Cupboard Quilt Shop
Pine Tree Country Quilts
A Straight Stitch

This is pretty much the entirety of the I-95 corridor (for liberal interpretations of “corridor”) from Gardiner to Old Town, and it brings my “shops visited” total to 17! I have just 9 more to visit by 4/30.

I have updated the map to include purple markers for today’s shops. I figure the I can complete the journey in two more trips.

View Maine Shop Hop locations in a larger map

I’m sticking to my promise to purchase something at each shop. Today’s haul was mostly patterns of the kind to help me use up some of my stash. Now, all I really need is the time to work on them!

Today, I continued the Shop Hop endeavor. My original goal was to visit the four shops that I had planned to visit but did not get to yesterday, but I also decided to visit the two closest to my home.

And I did it! Between 11:30a and 3:00p, I visited:
Nancy’s Sewing Center
Sarah Johnson Quilts
Quilt Divas
Country Creations
Maine-ly Sewing
Alewives Fabrics

This brings me to a total of 10 shops already, which means I qualify for the first level of all-hoppers drawings! (I’ve already outdone my total from last year’s hop, when I visited just eight shops.) I have a plan to visit the remaining 16 shops by 4/30.

I have updated the map to show the shops I have visited so far. The yellow markers are for shops visited on 4/4, and the green markers are for the shops visited on 4/5.

View Larger Map

And, do I have lots of goodies already–everything from free patterns to a tape measure to chocolate! (I also have one very wrinkly end-of-bolt piece of fabric that I’m not terribly impressed by, but when it’s a free item, can you really complain?) I’ve made good on my promise to buy something at each shop, although I’ve already used all of my intended budget for this year’s hop.

In the week or so, I will have write-ups of my experiences at each of the shops, but for now, I’m off to revel in all the new stuff!

We set out early this morning to visit some of the shops that are farthest away from our house. Due to a variety of things–ranging from enjoying a lovely day for driving to having to reroute due to an accident on the interstate–we managed to visit only four shops today:

Sanford Sewing Machines
Sew Portland
Cotton Weeds Quilt Shop
Mariner’s Compass Quilt Shop

Tomorrow, I’m setting out to visit the remaining shops on the Midcoast!

[Edited 4/5 to add map]

View Larger Map

This year’s edition of the State of Maine Quilt Shop Hop begins on April 1 and runs through April 30. Twenty-six shops are involved, and participants will receive one charm square (which I assume means a 5×5-inch square) from this hop’s selected fabric line, Bonnie Blue Basics and Backgrounds from Marcus Brothers. The shops will also have door prizes (I won one drawing at Quilt Divas in Rockland last year), and there are some “big ticket” prizes, if you will, for those participants who visit all 26 stores, as well as prize drawings for hoppers who visit 10, 15, and 20 shops. Many shops also have little gift bags for hoppers, just for stopping by!

I participated in last year’s Hop to the extent that my time allowed. I learned about it late, and I had plans on various weekends that precluded me from going both hither and yon. I think I managed to visit 10-12 shops. It was a pleasant enough experience, but as with many activities, the first time was weird and I felt like I didn’t know exactly what I should be doing. Now that I know the ropes, the Hop should be a lot more fun.

Steve was my driver (mostly because I batted my eyes and said “please” imploringly), and I have to say that we encountered some shopkeepers and/or other people working at the stores who did not treat him as nicely as they should have. I was, quite obviously, the quilter of our duo, but that should not prevent the people working in the stores from also being pleasant to him. I supplied this feedback on my Hop Passport, and I am hopeful that it was treated seriously and the Hop will be a much better experience for him this year, should he choose to accompany me again.

I’ve also set some pennies aside for purchases at the shops. I think it’s rude to go to a quilt shop, get them to stamp or sign my passport and give me my charm square and maybe a gift for visiting, sign up for their drawings, and then leave right away. The shopkeepers put a lot of effort into the Hop (granted, some do more than others), so I do my part to make their extra efforts and extra business hours worth it.

In hopes of making it to all 26 shops this year, I have plotted their locations on a map. Use it, if you’d like.

View Larger Map

Next up, I’m dividing them into regions of shops that I can get to in a single day, then planning out my travel days. It’ll be some work, but it will be worth it in the end!