We didn't win . . . . .

But we had a fabulous time! Doing what?? Shop hopping! And what kind of shop hopping . . . . well, only the best kind, fabric shop hopping!! This year I challenged myself to get back into sewing, and to (hopefully) meet some new sewing friends! I found the Tampa Modern Quilt Guild, which meets at one of my favorite local quilt shops, Inspire!, and went to a meeting. The meeting was okay - but one of the ladies told us about the Tampa Bay Area Shop Hop! Score! I needed to spend more money on fabric, so my mom and I were on our way! The shop hop lasted the entire month of June (sorry friends - you could do your own hop) and consisted of 12 different stores. There were 7 stores we had never been too! It took us four different days to complete the hop, and we had a blast! At each store we entered raffles (which we didn't win) and at the last shop, we turned in our store passport to win a sewing machine. (Which we also didn't win.) I found two more stores that I REALLY like (one of which carries Art Gallery fabrics). Here is some of the haul from our shop hop extravaganza!!


I was mostly looking for fabric. On the left side of the picture, you can see this great Amy Butler vinyl we found on sale!! Can't wait to make a cute new lunchbag with it!

I had a plan for each store: if nothing else, find a solid that matches this crazy Dear Stella print that I love! It worked out well in some of the stores that weren't really my "style" of quilting!

Uggh. I'm making a FL Gator baby quilt for one of my (former) co-workers who is a HUGE UF fan. (Umm, Go 'Noles!) I was able to find some great fabrics that are a play on the traditional orange and blue.

Both my mom and Hubs thought these fabrics were hideous - I love their vintage feel! They were also on sale for $4.00 yard! With no minimum cut requirement! Who can pass that up??

So even though we didn't win any prizes, spent a little more than we wanted to on fabric we didn't need, and drove ALL OVER west central Florida (Hudson, anybody??) we had a GREAT time!!!