Shop Hop! April 10-19, 2008

The Nebraska Shop Hop is put on by the Nebraska Independent Fabric Shop Association (‘ya gotta scroll down their page to see anything). You pay $10, get a bag, a list of shops, a stamp card, a free fat-quarter, and a map of Nebraska. You visit the shops, they stamp your card, and you turn in your card at the end for drawings for gift certificates. The shops run specials and have treats, beverages, and other goodies for the Hoppers. It’s a blast!

Deb H., Cassie and I headed out to the Lincoln shops on Friday night. Cassie had birthday and allowance money saved up and was eager to spend, spend, spend. Which she did.

I was able to get off work an hour early, and met Deb at my place. We all piled into the van and headed south to Calico House. NOT my favorite store (and is actually on my list of shops I don’t buy from unless I’m absolutely positively desperate) though I bought a fat-quarter cuz I always buy one from each shop during The Hop. Cassie found fat-quarters, buttons, and lots of other things that caught her eye. I reminded her that we had two other shops to hit (read: two other shops that I’d rather support). So she finally settled for just one fat-quarter and off we headed to The Quilted Kitty and The Cosmic Cow. Along the way we hit the drive-through at Taco Inn and Cassie though it was pretty neat to eat in the van. Surprisingly there were no food or drink mishaps.

Cassie spent all her money and was thrilled with the evening. By us starting to Hop at 5:30pm we had just enough time to hit all three shops by 8:00pm without feeling rushed. So next year I’ll again ask to leave work early.

Sunday I was dying to Hop more Shops, so I called Deb and we made arrangements to Hop together that afternoon. Mark was fine with this cuz he’d spend the day at home in front of the TV uninterrupted by anyone. In the meantime, Cassie and I skipped Sunday school/church (I’m so-o-o-o bad!), hit Taco Inn again, and munched on our way to the Fabric Fair in Seward. I found some red plaid flannel I needed (still need two patterns of black plaid to round out my design for a black/red/white plaid rag quilt I have in mind), Cassie found some fat-quarters she “needed,” and off we headed back to Lincoln to pick up Deb. Then we headed to Country Traditions in Fremont.

Initially we really liked this shop. They had lots to pick from, different styles of fabrics, kits, patterns, books, fat-quarters, jelly rolls, and charm packs. They also had antique-looking wire baskets you could use and they’d clip your name to the basket. Cassie was tickled to have her own basket and kept switching out what she thought she was going to buy. But they didn’t allow you to take photos of anything in the store! All the other shops encourage you to take photos, and will even hold up quilts so you can get a better shot. I decided this was not an attitude I need to deal with so they can’t count me as one of their regular shoppers. So there.

Outside their store Deb, Cassie, and I had our photo taken. Then we hit the Zesto for desperately needed ice cream and beverages. We stopped at a city park to run Cassie around for half an hour (she had a good time playing on the swings and slides with another family that was there) then we headed back home. My six-year-old didn’t do too badly for sitting in the van for over three hours on a nice, sunny day.

By the time we got to Lincoln it was supper time and Cassie was hungry. So we dropped Deb off at her house for her car, and I followed them to Village Inn at 50th & Van Dorn for breakfast/supper. I got Cassie home, bathed, and in bed at a relatively decent time and she went right to sleep. In all, I had a grand time at this year’s Shop Hop, and Mark had 10 hours to himself at home with the TV and a nap.