Mark your calendars for the 2012 Wasatch Front Shop Hop, June 13-16.
Paducah schmaduca! The Wasatch Front gets my vote for the "Quilting Capital of America." We are blessed with a plethora of quilt shops (over 30 shops within a 150 mile radius of Salt Lake City!) a host of fabric and pattern designers, dozens of nationally renowned instructors, and even a few fabric manufacturers. So much talent, so many different takes on a the art of quilting. Utah quilters have the best of everything!
What does it take to organize a Shop Hop? Think about it....every year, 15 competing (and the competition in Utah is stiff!) quilt shops along the Wasatch front join together to support each other and introduce you to each shop and their unique flavor. In addition to getting a taste of each shop, you have the opportunity to win terrific prizes and pick up discounts, make-and-takes, and free patterns as you discover their attributes! As the "new kid on the block" I have been very impressed with this collaboration. Everyone works so well together and concentrates on making each Shop Hop an event to be remembered. It takes a lot of time and organization and we start the week after the shop hop to begin planning next year's event. Here's the low-down for 2012...
In June we met at Whimsey Cottage (in Nancy's brand-spanking new location, absolutely fabulous! 
to discuss the positives and negatives of "The Best Quilt I Ever Read – Shop Hop 2011." Each shop brought the dish featured in the 2011 Shop Hop Book and their shop quilt for show and tell - very impressive! (I promise to take pictures at the 2012 follow-up meeting - I wasn't thinking that far ahead this year) The things you can do with fifteen blocks and some creativity... no two quilts were alike and they really did highlight the personality of each shop.
to discuss the positives and negatives of "The Best Quilt I Ever Read – Shop Hop 2011." Each shop brought the dish featured in the 2011 Shop Hop Book and their shop quilt for show and tell - very impressive! (I promise to take pictures at the 2012 follow-up meeting - I wasn't thinking that far ahead this year) The things you can do with fifteen blocks and some creativity... no two quilts were alike and they really did highlight the personality of each shop. We passed around the evaluations. Thank you so much for taking the time to fill them out. We read each and every one and appreciate your feedback. While we know that every shop will not meet every shopper's expectation, we do our best to improve on our successes and address any suggestions and every complaint we receive.
After eating ourselves silly, we drew names for prizes and bundled them up. In addition to the grand prizes awarded, we gave out 500+ prizes to the wonderful customers who completed the shop hop! Then we got down to business for 2012. We threw a lot of ideas into the pot and after much discussion and several "top 3 choices" votes, we came up with Those Were the Days/ Classic TV for our 2012 theme. Oh, the possibilities! It's time to do some research and find the perfect classic television show....
In August we met again, this time at Corn Wagon Quilt Co. I am having a serious case of shop envy - I love Marsha's shop! http://cornwagonquilts.com/ Her classroom is wonderful and her displays and samples are fabulous.
We finalized our TV shows, took on assignments for 2012, and headed back to our shops to begin planning, ordering, and designing! I'll let each shop announce their "classic" television show.
Thimbles is tickled to have
I've already ordered my red polo shirt and sailor hat. This will be so much fun!
