Today, I received an email about a 2026 quilt tour of America’s Heartland to include stops at Missouri Star, the International Quilt Study Center, Iowa Quilt Museum and the Dignity statue in South Dakota. A quilt shop hop plus museums and other stuff along the way is included. There’s also an optional 3 day retreat at Missouri Star hosted by the tour guide along with the quilting instructor. Cost: $3,495.00 per person double occupancy. The fine print shows that airfare, many meals, all beverages, and gratuities are not included in the fee. You’ll also want money for shop hopping along the route, as well! The retreat at the end is $700.00. If you decide to do everything, you’re probably looking at a $5,000.00 + for the entire trip.
All of the attractions listed on this tour are definitely worth a visit. That said, I’d rather spend $5000.00 on international travel rather than domestic. Why? Simply because I can DIY my own version of a published domestic tour for a lot less money. My sister-in-law and I did Missouri Star, Missouri Quilt Museum, an Amish community, Winterset Iowa (Iowa Quilt Museum and explore local town for a couple of hours), quilt show in Omaha, International Quilt Museum and fair amount of shop hopping over 5 days and 4 nights. Airfare for both of us, hotel and car rental totaled about $1750.00. I probably spent another $500.00 on food, gas and quilty goodness. My sister-in-law spent that much on quilty souvenirs alone! Notice that total expenses for both of us for a similar trip were less than the land only portion for one person in the America’s Heartland trip.
For the amount of money saved by going DIY versus the tour price, I could easily take 1-2 additional trips. If money’s tight and you really like the itinerary, there are ways to reduce costs even more. Get creative. Drive instead of fly. Take a cooler with snacks & drinks. Stay outside major areas where accommodations tend to be less expensive. Utilize every coupon and discount code you can find. Cash in those reward points and airline miles you’ve been hoarding.
Collect tour brochures for all the destinations that interest you. Make a list of the museums, attractions and quilt shops that look interesting. Spend a little time visiting websites to do some research. It’s free and entertaining. If the destination is less than four hours away by car, can you drive and see the same sights over a long weekend rather than taking a 7 day tour by bus? There are currently quilting tours available for Gee’s Bend, Charleston SC and coastal GA, plus the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and NC. Prices listed for each tour are just under $2900.00 per person double occupancy for the land portion only. Depending on traffic, all of these places are less than a 5 hour drive from Atlanta. I could easily DIY all 3 tours for less than the cost of a single trip with the tour company.
My point is – use tour brochures to fuel your quilty travel dreams. Remember, there are DIY options available to help make those quilty travel dreams a possibility – even in today’s inflationary, tight times.
Here’s to safe, quilty travels in 2025!
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