Another summer has flown by! Earlier this year I decided Quilted Joy would participate in the annual Row by Row Experience. For those of you scratching your heads wondering what I'm talking about, Row by Row is like a summer long shop hop. Quilt shops across the country design a 9" x 36" row. You get to hop from shop to shop, picking up a free pattern or purchasing a fabric kit for each shop’s row. After collecting your patterns, you can assemble them into a quilt to serve as a memoir of your travels or potentially to win prizes. This was a decision that kept me up at night. There were so many unknowns! What should our row look like? Would people actually come to the shop? How many kits should I have ready? How many free patterns should I have ready? What if everyone absolutely hates the row? OMG, what if a whole bus load of ladies show up one day?? I'm happy to say all of these fears were just silly insecurities. My first Row by Row Experience has been absolutely amazing! Since June I've met so many new people from all over the country. I wanted to see where everyone was coming from, so I hung up a map in the shop and asked our Row by Rowers to place a sticker over their hometown. I expected lots of folks from Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, but never expected we'd have someone come all the way from Alaska or Toronto! Everyone who came into the shop was so kind, and many of them said our row was their favorite. If you're one of those wonderful folks who visited the shop to pick up the row, I want to say thank you! The whole team here enjoyed every minute of your visit in our little shop and we hope you come back to visit us soon! Per the Row by Row Experience rules, this Saturday is the last day you can pick up our row. After that it's time for you guys to get to work. You have until October 31st to make a quilt with at least 8 different rows, quilt it, label it, and bind it. The first person to bring their finished quilt to the shop wins a stack of fat quarters, and a bonus prize if you used that shop's row! Several shops - including Quilted Joy - haven't given away prizes yet. If your Row by Row quilt is almost complete, finish it up and bring it by; you could win a prize! If you can't make it out to Louisville by Saturday you'll still have the opportunity to get our kit. We can't ship the kits until November 1st, but you can pre-order your kit here. You can also order our exclusive fabric license plates - BLUGRSSQLTR and I QLT! U QLT? - in the online store today!