Hopping and Rowing

It is July in Southern Ontario and that means JULY SHOP HOP!!!!   If you have no idea what I am talking about - check out the link.  There are 15 stores participating - if you look at the map (scroll to the bottom of the post to see the map) - there is a bit of distance between some of the stores.  At each of the 15 stores, you get a free kit for a block ( the colours this year are blue and white). Get your passport stamped and get entered into a draw for some fabulous prizes. Minimum of eight stores required to enter the draw.

If that isn't enough, there is the Row by Row Experience which needs to be renamed to Row by Row FRENZY.  I think you all know about that from some of my previous posts.

Some stores are doing BOTH!!!!!!

Elaine S and I went out the other day on a road trip.  My goal was to collect license plates, but I was also participating in the Shop Hop and trying to collect my 8 stamps. However things quickly got out of hand.

Our first stop was Sew Creative in Mt Brydges.  If we had of had our wits about us - we would have noticed on the passport that the shop opened at 9 AM. We arrived at 10 - but no big deal.  This shop is hosting both events so we got plates, kits and had a peek around at other stuff and then we were off.

Sew Creative - love the quilt blocks on the outside of the store

One more quilt block

Then we were off to WYOMING!!!!   Yep - we had our passports with us and we were off.

Welcome to WYOMING, ONTARIO!!!!!!

Wyoming - popularion 2000

Yes - this small town of 2000 has an amazing quilt store in a fabulous building.  I could spend some serious time there if it were closer.  In case you don't know where Wyoming is - it is close to Sarnia!!!!   You see what I mean by things got out of hand????   Well - this store was MY GOAL for the day.  They had a license plate and no one had volunteered to pick it up so that was my excuse and it was a good one!!!!!   The store is called Stitcharie Quilt Shop.   I am so learning the geography of Ontario!!!  I had never heard of Wyoming, Ontario before!

Fabric license plate from the Stitcharie Quilt Shop in Wyoming

The inside of the store

The classroom - can you imagine being let loose with all that space!!!!!

Wyoming was the furthest away store - now it was time to work our way back. We stoppd at Quilts n Things in Arkona.  This store is in a house!!!!

Quilts n Things  - Arkona

They didn't have a plate nor were they on the Shop Hop, but we picked up their row. We got a good chuckle when we came out of the house as there was an OPP car blocking the driveway!!!!   OH MY GOD - are we busted??????   Nope - there was another car parked in front of the OPP and he was on the receiving end of a ticket!   The OPP officer very nicely moved so we could back out!

Then we were off to the next store. Now we were on a mission - we figured since we had come all that way to Wyoming, that we could now easily get those furthest stores for the SHOP HOP - we were in for ALL of them.  We changed our route slightly!!!!!  When I got home and looked at the map - we did NOT take the most direct route, but we ended up hitting The Marsh Store.   A beautiful old historic building!!!!

The Marsh Store

 We did NOT go to them in this order, but we also went to Kalidoscope of Quilts in Exeter, Country Patchworks in Woodstock, Cornerstone Quilts n More in London, Stitch-It Central in Ingersoll, and then we got to Ye Olde Fabric Shop in Stratford. It was getting close to 5 PM so we figured that this was our last stop.  In chatting with the staff, and AGAIN they consulted the hours on the SHOP HOP PASSPORT (DUH - we didn't think of that!)   the next store - The Quilt Place in Shakespeare was open until 5:30 PM.  OMG - we were off!!!!!   Once we hit that store which is only a few minutes away, we picked up our goodies and then we realized that Heart n Home in New Hamburg was open until 6 PM.  NO WAY!!!!!!!      Get in the car  - QUICK and we were off!!!!!!  

That was a record day as we managed to get to 11 stores in ONE day!!!!!   Whew!!!!!!   Pretty exciting day - well a very exicitng finish to the day to say the least.

Somewhere along the way - we saw these MASSIVE poles for the power.  There were wind turbines in the area so that must be the reason for these massive power poles and lines.   Let's just say that you would NOT want to hit one of these poles.  I don't think it would be good for you or your car!!!!!

Massive power poles

 I tried very hard not to go crazy in each store - yes - do the math!!!!!   But I did find a few novelty prints that I just couldn't pass up.  I have HUGE HUGE quantities of this stuff.  I think I am going to start cutting it into kits and selling it.

Novelty prints

BUT before I take on that challenge - I MUST finish up with the Misty Pines kit.  Until I get these kits cut and see how much fabric is left - I am NOT taking any new orders for the kits.

The kits for the Shop Hop

 Most of the stores we hit, the license plates had already been picked up by someone for me so I didn't get many that day - but made good progress on getting my Shop Hop Passport complete.

I do have ONE beef about the Shop Hop. Overall the event is very well organized and I think the stores are doing extremely well.  I think every store that we hit that is participating is busy cutting and folding kits.  Each store has handed out HUNDREDS of these kits so far and there are still two weeks in the month of July!!!!

The way the Shop Hop works is that each store chooses a block for their store. The colour this year is blue and white. Each store then distributes one of their blocks to each of the other stores so that each store has 15 different blocks. Then they each make up a quilt using those 15 blocks.  They choose the setting and they are very varied.  However while you are allowed to take a picture of the quilts, there is to be NO POSTING of those pictures on any social media until August 1.  Why????   Well the stores do not want their setting to be published. Why????   Because someone might copy the design and not buy a finishing kit from the store. SERIOUSLY??????   I want to see them all BEFORE I buy a finishing kit.  Then I know which one I like the best and I would buy that finishing kit when I am in the store.  If I get to the end and then I see a quilt that I like - I will copy it.   If I know before hand - I will buy the kit.   How hard is that for people to comprehend?????  

I am pretty certain which stores made that rule up based on my experience from last year.  It isn't a big deal, but I am NOT going to pay to have a kit shipped to me when I could have picked it up in person. NUFF SAID!

In case you didn't notice, but there is one more post this morning - one of my last posts from PEI.


On that note - there is so much to do today - it is one of those days - where do I start?????


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!