Las Vegas Shop Hop

Isn't that a neat license plate?? Spotted on a car at you guessed it, a quilt shop!

I did it....I did it!! I went on the Shop Hop of the Las Vegas quilt shops and bought only two FQ's!! One for a block exchange that I'm doing...totally legal..and the other to go into another quilt that I'm working on and truly do not have many aquas to go in it. So, it could be questionable as to how 'legal' it was for this gal that signed onto a NoBuy Challenge for a year. But it's okay--I SO wanted to buy two kits within 2 minutes of walking into my first store! I love this store!! Quiltique is in Henderson, east of Vegas by about 15 minutes tops. So bright and roomy, lots of great samples and goodies to stop the eye and wonderful contemporary fabrics that made my heart flutter! I thought maybe I might have made a mistake by doing this Shop Hop--but then, how often am I in Las Vegas during their Shop Hop--once every 8 years! I bought a cute oversized Pincushion Pattern and another scrappy pattern and that's it! I really hated to leave those yummy kits, but after wandering around the store and reminding myself that I have lots of pretty fabrics at home, I remembered that I had actually BOTH of the patterns. I just needed to rethink the fabric I originally thought I was going to use. Onto my next store... Fiddlesticks in the historic Boulder City, just another 15 minutes on the way to Hoover Dam.

Another friendly store, very homey and welcoming. Their flavor is a bit more folk arty/country but a delight to check out their displays. The fabric wasn't really enticing to me (don't get me wrong, it was all nice..just not the flavor of the month for me), but I did have to buy several wooden spools with pink and green threads. They had beautiful displays of color related items in each color fabric section. Hmmm, they had some neat ideas. I stopped and enjoyed lunch across the street and then headed back out, this time to the far west end of Las Vegas to The Christmas Goose, (oops--forgot to take their picture) that had moved since the last time I had been here.

Wow-their new store is awesome! Lots of variety here and again, lots of great samples. By this time, I'm on a roll of knowing to not even bothering to look at fabric, but rather looking at the samples and getting ideas of what to do with MY fabric at home! I bought a book here on Advent Calendars. I would like to make one for my girls..maybe next year! LOL Quick potty break and then onto Nancy's Quilt Shop, who was featured this Spring in Quilt Sampler. Congratulations! Again, loaded with samples and enticing displays. They had a lot of wool and yarns for those who love to knit and crochet. Saw another pattern I had at home made out of brights instead of traditional fabrics and knew it would go on my to do list as soon as I got home! Bought another book and this is where I found my FQ and one for my friend's block. By this time I've been clear east of the city, south, west and north and it was late afternoon and thought I'd better head back to the hotel. I saved the closet quilt shop to the Strip for last. Our flight didn't leave until late afternoon, so I knew I had time in the morning.

The last quilt shop on the Shop Hop (by the way--last time I went on their official Shop Hop, there were 10 stores--some were kind of far away--like Death Valley and then Utah!. when I asked where they were, the farthest ones away dropped out and all the other shops in Vegas closed. But I could understand, they got dropped from my list after the last time.) anyway, I went to Fabric Boutique the last morning. Their store was cut in half, but I didn't feel like it was missing anything or was cramped. I'm sure the economy had them looking at their space more efficiently. I was dismayed at first when I walked in, but after perusing the store, found it to be just as charming and inspiring as before. I think their sewing machine display area was the most affected. I was inspired by a few samples to keep in mind and bought a pattern for one quilt.

So, I did it. I managed to go to 5 stores and support them but yet stayed on my No Buy Challenge. Okay, one FQ--but what an improvement for me! LOL Those who know me know what I'm saying. Shop Hops are a great way to see a city or area's quilt shops at their best. And as busy as they all were, they were very friendly. I guess there's a reason why these quilt shops are still around. And I found I can walk by the buffet and still be in control.