Ever heard of “shop-hopping?” If not, here’s what it’s all about. Local merchants that carry quilting materials and supplies get together for a multi-day sale. The merchants are typically in the same city or metropolitan area. The events vary in length of time from two days to a full week for large events. A directory of the participating stores is put together and given to shop hoppers with the purchase of a shopping pass or passport at a nominal fee (usually under $10). Some of the larger events will offer the shopping passes at a discount if purchased in advance otherwise you purchase one at your first stop.

As shop hoppers visit the various stores, each one will have bulk purchase discounts, special sale prices, a free gift and some provide refreshments as well. The shopper must make sure to have their pass validated by each merchant that they visit. This is usually done with a stamp mark on the pass. Once you have collected the validation stamps from all of the participating stores, you leave the completed pass with one of them. Most will have some type of drawing for a special prize for completing the hop. The prizes can be anything from quilts, gift baskets and certificates to cash.

The idea is to take the items you collect on the shop hop and actually make a quilt. Some quilters enjoy the experience so much they include a swatch with the city and state or some symbol that identifies where the materials were purchased to make the quilt. The shops for the events are sometimes miles apart so some events offer chartered busses that you can take for the daily trips. They do charge a fee but it’s not that expensive and if you’re not local to the area, you won’t have to find the shops on your own.