Shop Hoppin'

The kids and I spent last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings doing the Western Washington Shop Hop. There were over 55 quilt shops that participated in the hop. We only got to 12 shops. My kids were really good, but 12 shops ended up being their max. The kids and I each had a passport that we took into each store and got it stamped. Then I would get a pattern and some of the fabric to make that shop's block (most of the shops sold additional fabric for around $1 to be able to make the whole block) and the kids got to pick out a charm square of fabric. You can see a sample here of what a quilt would look like if you picked up most all the blocks from all the stores. It is really fun to see all the different quilt shops and see what kinds of fabrics they offer. I have a lot of great choices for places to shop for fabric for my quilts!

I really kept it in control with the spending. I bought this t-shirt from Bayside Quilting in Olympia, Washinton. I have wanted one of these for a while and it was fun to shop there for the first time. Of course I had to buy it in my favorite color, red. Don't you love how she is holding a rotary cutter!


Another purchase I am excited about is one that I made at Trains in Tacoma, Washington. This is such a great store but I don't think they have a website so I don't have a link. Donna is the owner and her prices are really good. She has a great selection of fabrics. When I saw her shelves of solids I knew that I had to pick out the fabric for a quilt that Rebekah made that I coudn't stop thinking about!! So I picked out colors I loved and that I felt looked nice together. Then I went looking for a fabric that incorporated those colors for a fun binding. The print I picked is a Kaffe Fassett and I love the look of it.



I am excited to make my 12 blocks from shop hop. My friend, Lou, is giving me some extra blocks she got from shop hopping with a friend that collected blocks but doesn't quilt. And Lou is giving some of them to me! Yay!


Yesterday I sat down and hand sewed the binding down on my braided table runner. Not my favorite part of the quilting process but I like the look of it so much that I suffer through.

And I ran over to JoAnns this morning for some basting spray and the backing for my quilt along quilt. I found the perfect fabric that is cute and has the same colors as the quilt top. Yay! I love it when that happens! Only bummer is there wasn't enough left on the bolt so I will have to piece the back. I am sure I will end up glad it happened this way because I do love the look of a pieced back.


My kids are each working on a paint by numbers kit right now. My daughter finished one yesterday and it turned out so wonderful that we picked up two at JoAnns today. I am off to work on my quilt along quilt.