Cure the winter blahs with fabric shop hop

Several months ago, our own ShopGirl wrote about a group of women who got together to shop hop to all of the Marden’s stores in Maine. How about applying that idea to fabric stores, for those of us who are always in hunting and gathering mode for new material for quilting, sewing and craft projects?

The operation goes like this: Four women get together for a shop hop. First, they plan the trip. They figure out who will do the driving – probably the one with the most comfortable car or the one with the van – and where they will go.

The shop hop might be planned around a theme – a Stitch and Bitch field trip, a revolt against Super Bowl Sunday or to secretly celebrate a newly empty nest.

The trip plan factors in lunch at a nice restaurant and perhaps a visit to an art museum or antiques mall could be fitted in to serve as inspiration for future projects.

The itinerary includes only four shops over an eight-hour period to keep the pace slow and enjoyable.

The shop hop gals head out at 8 a.m. for the fabric shop farthest away – but no more than two hours away unless it’s a special overnight trip – and arrive when the shop opens.

The next shops the hoppers visit are a bit closer to home and the last is closest to home. A theoretical itinerary might include Marden’s Fabric Center and the Yard Goods Center in Waterville, Nancy’s in Belfast and David’s Wife’s Quilts in Hermon, with a tour of the Colby College art museum thrown in for good measure.

Shop hoppers would spend no longer than an hour at each store, allow time for breaks in the shopping action and factor in at least an hour for lunch. They would plan to arrive home at 5 p.m.

Since riding in a car and shopping all day takes a lot of energy, it makes sense to carry along a few “survival” supplies, such as bottles of water and easy-to-carry snacks such as raisins, fruit, trail mix and cookies.

Shop hoppers will need to bring along large tote bags in which to stow their purchases. That will keep everyone’s goodies separate, making it easy for each shopper to grab her own stuff at the end of the trip.

Organizing before the trip might include taking swatches from an in-progress quilt in order to match new fabrics, making notes about how much fabric you need for the three Bs – backing, binding and borders – and the measurements of the quilt or individual blocks.

To make the trip pleasant for everyone, shop hoppers should save the heavy perfume for a more glamorous occasion, stick to the time schedule and chip in for gas for the car.

With 35 fabric shops in Maine, including Caribou, Searsport, East Machias, Farmington, Skowhegan, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Auburn, Portland and quite a few places in between, shop hoppers have ample opportunity to flit about and find out what’s impossible to resist in the fabric world.

Snippets

To set the record straight: Weaver Mary Chase’s shop was located in Bucks Harbor. When she sold the shop to former weaving students in 1988, it was renamed Peninsula Weavers and moved to Blue Hill.

Here are two challenges quilters might want to try. American Patchwork & Quilting magazine’s Quilt For the Cure Quilt Block Challenge calls for quilters to create blocks that can be joined to make quilts to auction as a fund-raiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation. The deadline is April 30. To learn more, e-mail apq@meredith.com.

Moda fabrics is offering a quilt challenge that has seven categories and three prizes. Quilts must be made of Moda fabrics, which are available at fabric shops in Belfast, Farmington, Jefferson, Lamoine, Madison, Nobleboro, Orland, Rangeley, Rockland, Stillwater, Trenton and Waterville. Visit www.modafabric.com to learn more.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes comments, suggestions and ideas. Call her at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.