July at Quiltbound: It’s Shop Hop Season
Megan FowlerJuly feels like the perfect time for a quilt shop adventure.
Maybe you’re joining a full-on organized shop hop with a passport, prizes, themed fabric, and a route that requires snacks. Maybe there’s one local shop you’ve been meaning to visit for approximately two years. Maybe you’re planning your own little route, adding a shop stop to a vacation, or taking an online shop hop from your couch in pajamas.
It all counts.
This month, Quiltbound members are earning the Shop Hop Badge by getting out into the quilting world, supporting quilt shops when they can, gathering inspiration, and keeping track of the good stuff they find along the way.
Because we have all bought a fabric that felt deeply important in the moment, then gotten home and realized we had no clue what it was called or where it came from. A true quilting jump scare.
The Shop Hop Field Guide
The Shop Hop Field Guide is a full printable companion for planning, enjoying, and remembering your quilt shop adventure. It is made for organized shop hops, self-guided routes, one-shop mini adventures, and even a little online browsing expedition from home.
Inside, you’ll find step-by-step pages to help you choose your shop hop style, decide what you are shopping for, build a shop list, map out your route, make a shopping plan, and set a budget before the fabric starts making extremely persuasive arguments.
There are printable worksheets for keeping track of shop details, hours, what you are looking for at each stop, your need-versus-want list, your route, and a budget plan that includes a very necessary emergency fat quarter fund.
You’ll also find a fabric swatch book page to help you keep track of fabrics already in your stash, including fiber content, source, amount, and whether it has been washed. Bring a few swatches along when you shop so you are not trying to match “kind of mossy green, but maybe more olive, but also not too olive” from memory.
The guide also includes a packing list for your shop hop kit, ideas for tracking the fabric you buy, tips for being a good shop hopper, and prompts for capturing the day once you get home. Think favorite shop, best surprise, color palettes you spotted, useful purchases, project ideas, and the places you already want to visit again.
And because every good adventure deserves a passport, there is a Self-Guided Shop Hop Passport you can print and use to record each stop. Add a stamp, a sticker, a receipt, a swatch, a doodle, or a note from the shop. There are no official rules here. It is your route and your tiny paper trail of fabric joy.
You do not need to print the entire guide, either. Print the pages that fit your plans, then make extra copies of the worksheets you want to use again.
A Free Pattern for Your Finds
The Field Notes Zippy pattern is also waiting in the Quiltbound Pattern Library.
Originally created for Quilt Camp 2025, this quilted zipper pouch is a sweet little project for using a favorite fabric pull, a treasured souvenir print, or even a few scraps from your latest shop hop haul.
Use it for sewing notions, travel supplies, receipts, shop-hop cash, or the tiny collection of snacks that somehow becomes essential whenever you leave the house with quilting plans.
It is a quick, useful project with just enough personality to make it feel special. Members can download it free anytime from the Pattern Library.
Your Free Monthly Badge
Every Quiltbound member gets one free badge each month, and July is a good time to choose one that feels right for your current season.
Maybe that is the Shop Hop Badge. Maybe you are finally ready to tackle a badge that has been sitting on your “someday” list. Maybe you want to celebrate a project you already finished because we are absolutely counting those wins too.
The Perfect Tote for a Fabric Side Quest
The new Quiltbound tote bag is now available in the shop, and it is very ready for quilt shop errands.
It is made from sturdy organic cotton with an open main compartment for everyday carrying. Toss in a notebook, a small sewing project, your favorite notions, or a suspiciously heavy stack of fabric you definitely only stopped in to look at.
Each tote is printed on demand, so it is made just for you after you order. Consider it your official accessory for your scenic route era.
A Shop Hop Playlist for the Road
A quilt shop adventure needs a soundtrack.
This month, members also get access to the Quiltbound Shop Hop Playlist, made for driving with the windows down, wandering through fabric bolts, and pretending your afternoon errand route is actually a very important creative expedition.
It has a little nostalgia baked in, like the mix tapes we used to make for friends when choosing the right song order felt extremely serious. This one is for your solo sewing-room dance parties, your actual quilt shop road trips, and the moments when you need a little extra energy before cutting into the good fabric.
Join Us for July
Quiltbound is a membership for quilters who want more creative adventures, more reasons to try new things, and more ways to celebrate the projects they are making along the way.
This month, members get the Shop Hop Field Guide, the Shop Hop Playlist, access to the Field Notes Zippy pattern, a free monthly badge, and a whole community of people who understand why a quick stop at the quilt shop can somehow turn into an entire afternoon.
Come join us and make July a little more colorful.
