Day 3 and done. Phew. I'm exhausted. Somewhere around store 5 or 6 yesterday I commented to one of my cohorts, "I think I'm starting to suffer from overstim."
But I had a fant-ab-ulous time. (Or would that be "fabric-ulous time"?)
Last shop, and then my little personal debriefing:
Last, but certainly not least, was Ivy Thimble (Victor).
Why didn't we make it here on Saturday? Because it's nowhere near any of the other shops on the list for this particular shop hop. But that doesn't stop the Intrepid and Determined Quilter.
This was my first ever visit here because it's a bit of a haul for me. I really do like this shop--I'll definitely be making more of an effort to get back there again. Since this was my last shop I only bought one charm pack (future freebie giveaway!). But I scoped out possible future purchases. You know, once I have money again. Like in 2013.
This is a fairly sizeable shop for our area--lots of bolts of fabric. Great batiks section, great flannels section, great blenders section. Great everything section.
So--here's what I learned that I'd like to pass along to you, for the next time you're wanting to go on a shop hop.
1.) There are a ton of great quilt shops in Western NY. C'mon over, y'all, ya hear? (There are several area quilt shops that weren't participating in this particular "official" shop hop--so there's a whole bunch more really nice ones than I've blogged about here!)
2.) Work on a cash-only basis. (Sigh.)
3.) Get yourself a Sonja. Without her maps and pre-planning, we'd never have been as efficient as we were. And we never felt rushed! It was a nice trip. Thanks, Sonja.
4.) Use electronics for good. One time, I should've done a quick online check of pricing before purchasing. That was the only downside to the whole trip. But overall, I could've kept much better track of what I was seeing in each shop that might have come in handy later. Now I'm going to sit tonight and program some of this stuff into my phone for future reference, but it would've been a lot easier to be doing it while I was standing right in the store. (For those of you with Droids--that "Footprints" app is a great way to track all the fun shops you're visiting. Much easier to do it at the moment you're standing in front of the store than trying to input everything later.)
OK--that's it. Now I have to start figuring out what I'm doing with my new fabric friends. And playing with my new Janome feet. There's no stopping me now.
But I had a fant-ab-ulous time. (Or would that be "fabric-ulous time"?)
Last shop, and then my little personal debriefing:
Why didn't we make it here on Saturday? Because it's nowhere near any of the other shops on the list for this particular shop hop. But that doesn't stop the Intrepid and Determined Quilter.
This was my first ever visit here because it's a bit of a haul for me. I really do like this shop--I'll definitely be making more of an effort to get back there again. Since this was my last shop I only bought one charm pack (future freebie giveaway!). But I scoped out possible future purchases. You know, once I have money again. Like in 2013.
This is a fairly sizeable shop for our area--lots of bolts of fabric. Great batiks section, great flannels section, great blenders section. Great everything section.
So--here's what I learned that I'd like to pass along to you, for the next time you're wanting to go on a shop hop.
1.) There are a ton of great quilt shops in Western NY. C'mon over, y'all, ya hear? (There are several area quilt shops that weren't participating in this particular "official" shop hop--so there's a whole bunch more really nice ones than I've blogged about here!)
2.) Work on a cash-only basis. (Sigh.)
3.) Get yourself a Sonja. Without her maps and pre-planning, we'd never have been as efficient as we were. And we never felt rushed! It was a nice trip. Thanks, Sonja.
4.) Use electronics for good. One time, I should've done a quick online check of pricing before purchasing. That was the only downside to the whole trip. But overall, I could've kept much better track of what I was seeing in each shop that might have come in handy later. Now I'm going to sit tonight and program some of this stuff into my phone for future reference, but it would've been a lot easier to be doing it while I was standing right in the store. (For those of you with Droids--that "Footprints" app is a great way to track all the fun shops you're visiting. Much easier to do it at the moment you're standing in front of the store than trying to input everything later.)
OK--that's it. Now I have to start figuring out what I'm doing with my new fabric friends. And playing with my new Janome feet. There's no stopping me now.