This weekend (May 1-3) was the Pieceful Quilter's Alley Shop Hop. Six quilt shops in Southern Missouri participate in a shop hop twice each year. My mom did the hop with me in November, but this time it was just Jeremiah and I.
A shop hop is an event in which you visit each shop during the specified days. At the first store you visit, you receive a "passport" that each shop stamps or signs. Once you have visited all the stores, the final shop keeps your passport, and you are entered to win prizes! Each shop also has sales and specials on most items. This time around, the shops offered 20% off most regular priced items. One hopper will win the grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to each of the six stores! There are smaller prizes like $50 gift certificates, patterns, fabric precuts, too. In November, I won a gift bag with patterns and a Moda charm pack, and my mom won a quilt pattern book. Let's hope I win the grand prize this time!
This time, each shop gave out a pattern for a 12" quilt block. After completing the shop hop, you had the patterns for six different blocks. Each shop had made their own quilt using all six blocks. It was so interesting to see how different each quilt turned out!
I started the hop at The Stitchin' Post in Willow Springs, MO. I visit this store often, as it is my preferred local shop. They have reasonably priced quilting fabric and fat quarters. The owners, Joan and Grover Pierce, are lovely people. They also run an etsy store. Jeremiah enjoyed entertaining Joan (or should that be the other way around?) while I shopped. In addition to the free block pattern, they also gave each customer a free fat quarter!
Joan made multiples of the six quilt blocks to make a stunning purple, blue, and green quilt featuring a floral fabric panel in the center.
Jeremiah fell asleep right after getting back in the car, so we made the long trek to Van Buren, MO to Carol's Country Quilt Shop. I always find wonderful things here! It's a good thing this shop is so far away. The quilt shop is in a residential home. The basement is where the best bargains are! They also sell "scrap bags" for $1.75. These scrap bags are stuffed brown paper lunch sacks. I have purchased these each time I visit the shop, and each time I am surprised at the quality of what's inside. I usually get a couple fat quarter size (or larger!) pieces and strips of various quilting fabrics, including batiks. It is a great way to experiment with colors and fabrics I wouldn't normally buy.
The featured quilt at this shop was a lap size quilt that added nine-patch blocks with the six blocks.
After making a pit stop for lunch, we headed to the small town of Birch Tree, MO to The Hideaway Quilt Shop. The shop often displays quilts that are quick and easy to put together and hosts sewing classes with a "make-and-take" theme. I enjoy visiting this shop very much. She even has a collection of mini (child's) sewing machines! (Again, one day I will make a post about the sewing machines I have.)
The quilt at this shop used all six blocks and some large sections of fabric that would be perfect for featuring large scale prints. This quilt shows you can make a large, bed-size quilt without much more sewing than a smaller quilt.
Next, Jeremiah and I visisted the Gammill Sewing Center in West Plains, MO. This is primarily a sewing machine dealer and repair shop. They often have vintage Bernina machines for a great price (in case you're hunting for one). They have a special right now on machine tune-ups for $25. They gave each shop hop participant a small pair of scissors perfect for thread clipping.
This shop made the six quilt blocks into a wall hanging.
The Sewing Connection is located about eight miles outside of West Plains, MO. The shop is a Husqvarna and Gammil dealer, and they do machine quilting as well. They gave each hopper a coupon good for 'buy one item at regular price get a second item for half off.' They host quilting and embroidery classes where you get to use their machines!
The shop hop quilt here featured beautiful machine quilting, done by the shop owner, Vivian Collins. One block is repeated in each of the corners, but the other five blocks only appear once. The blocks are set on point with light colored blocks in-between to allow the quilting to be the focus.
The last shop I visited was Dogwood Quilting in Ava, MO. This shop has a good selection of fat quarters and precut tumblers in their back room. They have a website, but I haven't seen any activity on it for a long while.
The featured quilt here was lap size, and also turned the quilt blocks on point.
I turned in my completed passport to the shop in Ava.
Sunday evening, I received a call saying I won a $50 gift certificate to the shop in Van Buren! I'm already planning what I will spend it on...and looking forward to the next shop hop!
