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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!

Last week, while my husband was away on business, I ventured of the quilting path and into the world of bag making.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of the Miranda Day Bag pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. I also gathered up the required yardages and other materials that day. It became a matter of having both the motivation and the time to create the bag.

I was very pleased with the written instructions and the diagrams in this pattern, and I would totally recommend it to anyone who is intimidated by the idea of making a bag. (I like it so much that I’m making at least two more.) The final product is just the right size for toting around a knitting project.

Check out the photos of my first Miranda bag, which I’ve made for my friend Jess:

The finished bag

Zoom of fabrics

View inside the bag

Total work time: 9 hours

I have two baby quilts in progress. Baby Quilt #3 is a surprise (and at this rate, it might become a first birthday gift), so I can’t really post about it yet.

Baby Quilt #4 is for my friends Chris and Amy, who are expecting their first child this month! I spent yesterday starting the assembly of the top and finished about 60% of it during my work session. I finished the assembly this evening, and I’m really quite pleased with the results.

Now I have “just” the squaring up (and I so love squaring up quilt tops set on point), quilting, and binding left to do. The challenge is to finish it up in the next three weeks, in hopes of the quilt arriving before the baby!

I finally have a name for the quilt, too. I’ll save that for the unveiling of the pictures, which will take place after Chris and Amy have the quilt in hand.

The fabric is the Butterfly Fling collection by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda, and the pattern is 2 Charm Packs, 1 Jelly Roll from French Fantasy Designs. I’ll let you mull that over, and soon you’ll see how your idea compares to mine. :)