Tag: Travel

Quilt Project Possibilities for 2026

October 19, 2025

Seem a little early to start thinking about quilty travel and projects for 2026?

Destination Retreats, Major Quilt Shows and Guided Tours
It’s not too early to plan for retreats – especially if you want to attend a retreat in spring/summer 2026. Retreat organizers have begun advertising and some events have already filled. I’ve booked a retreat for January and am considering adding another one for late July – after our big quilt show in June. Both retreats are reasonably priced (to me anyway), within a 6 hour drive of ATL and offer private room accommodation options.

Keep in mind that travel expenses can increase the cost of a retreat exponentially – especially if you have to fly, rent a car and cover additional nights of hotel to accommodate your flight schedule. In my experience, regional events tend to be much more budget friendly, particularly when traveling by car. My only advice is to make sure the event/destination is worth any extra travel costs and time required to attend the retreat.

QuiltCon returns to Raleigh, NC in February (not attending this time). AQS – Daytona Beach, FL is about the same time in February. Major shows such as Road2VA and A Mountain QuiltFest (TN) should post instructor, class and quilt show information in March. All are great events to attend. In 2026, other commitments will keep me from attending these shows.

Projects
Many fabric manufacturers release their new lines from November – January. A companion sew along event is usually scheduled along with the fabric launch. Check the Moda Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs websites for collection storyboards and accompanying sew along announcements. Fat Quarter Shop, Pat Sloan Quilts and Missouri Star Quilt Company also have information about upcoming QAL events. Perhaps your local guild, sewing group or quilt shop is hosting an event in conjunction with the scheduled QAL. For a modest fee ($5-/$10), you can hang out, sew that week’s block and drink wine with your stitchy friends on Thursday nights. Bad weather or not able to get out? Join stitchy friends virtually. Check out Jelly Roll Club and Patchwork Posse for virtual sew-with-friends events.

Here’s what’s on my project calendar for Winter/Spring 2026:

New Years Day with Stitchin’ Heaven 11:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. EST. on YouTube. I usually make one of each block during the simulcast and turn them into placemats to donate to Meals on Wheels.

2026 RBD Block Challenge with Riley Blake Designs. Blog post, video and block pattern released most Tuesdays, beginning January 6th. A new one for me in 2026 – challenging blocks from some designers I know and several I’m not familiar with.

Lori Holt Farm Fresh QAL (featuring newly released Farmer’s Daughter fabric collection) starts January 26th. Weekly blog post, introductory video and lots of social media. This will be a QAL project in real time with 3-4 members of my Friday sewing group. I’m sew excited!

The event with Stitchin’ Heaven continues what has become an annual tradition for me. The RBD Block Challenge will provide a weekly challenge through late May and what I anticipate to be a gorgeous finished quilt. The Farm Fresh QAL will will provide a weekly outing, plus opportunities to deepen friendships with fellow quilters outside of my guild. All three projects will enable my de-stashing endeavors. Since I already have the required Lori Holt books and am sourcing materials from existing stash for all 3 projects, this makes the cost to participate minimal. Money saved here means more money for quilty travel!

My 3/4 size Elna STAR edition – perfect for classes and retreats!

Asheville Quilt Show

August 18, 2025

This time last year, Sadie and I were excited about our upcoming trip to Asheville. It would mark my first overnight quilting trip with Big Girl in tow. I had reservations at a pet-friendly hotel. A local kennel had even agreed to a day of drop-in doggie day care so I could attend the show. Hurricane Helene changed all that.

On Thursday, I made the trek to Asheville, North Carolina while Sadie stayed home. I’d originally penciled the event in my calendar as a long day trip, but hubs suggested I make it an overnight trip instead. He’d been to the area back in the spring and noted there were still some areas where the roads hadn’t been fully repaired.

It was the right call. The trip to Asheville and then back to Atlanta was definitely longer than the average “3 hr 10 min” each way quoted in the GPS app. I spent five hours at the show, so that would’ve easily been a 15 hour day with quilt show attendance, time for meals, breaks and commuting round-trip between Atlanta and Asheville.

As for the show, it was definitely worth the drive. I saw many gorgeous quilts, attended informative lectures and had my 1936 Featherweight looked over by a well-respected Featherweight service technician (the main reason the show was on my radar last year). There was excellent shopportunity, with several familiar faces who’d also vended at Mountain QuiltFest back in June. I purchased very few souvenirs to take home with me – a copy of the tech’s FW service/repair manual, a Bev McCullough pattern on my list and pink & blue bobbin weight thread for FMQ.

There were a couple of exhibits devoted to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. This quilt was a thank-you to all of the volunteer organizations who helped out after the devastating hurricane hit the area. My husband spent several weeks up there clearing debris with Team Rubicon. I sent him this picture along with a photo of the artist’s statement. Very moving.

After the show, I explored the area a bit before heading to my hotel. I had dinner at a local restaurant and spent the evening back in my hotel room stitching the Week 2 Mystery 5-0 units on Jane. The next morning, I explored downtown Hendersonville before heading back home.

I can definitely see bringing Sadie with me to a future quilt show in Asheville. It’s a very dog-friendly town and there are options for doggie day care while you attend the show.

Make time to travel

July 22, 2025
Picture of Mount Hood taken at Panorama Point, Oregon

Once Quilt Camp was over, we packed and headed out west to explore places long on my travel bucket list – the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, Astoria and the Pacific Coast Highway. It was an incredible seven days. We flew into Portland (PDX), but didn’t spent much time in the city. What little I did see of downtown Portland was typical of any other large city – meaning I’d avoid the downtown area and shop/stay in the suburbs.

Our journey was basically one large loop – Hood River, The Dalles and back over to Astoria, following the Pacific Coast Highway as far as Newport, then over to Corvallis with a stop in Salem before heading back to Portland. Things we liked best: National Neon Sign Museum in The Dalles, Western Vintage Auto & Air Museum in Hood River, Columbia Gorge Maritime Museum in Astoria, Latimer Quilt & Textile Museum in Tillamook (just up the road from the Tillamook Creamery), Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville and the Deepwoods House & Gardens in Salem.

Photos from Latimer Quilt & Textile Museum in Tillamook, Oregon
Vacation souvenir from Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop in Vancouver, WA.

Oregon has no state sales tax, plus had great end of season sales, so we did some much needed shopping at the only full-fledged Eddie Bauer retail store in the state. At Montavilla Sewing Center, I also found the left bi-level 9mm foot for my Janome 8900 that none of the 3 Janome dealers near me had. While there, I also asked for a price quote on the Janome 9480 with the ASR. Extremely competitive, but as this model’s now been available for over two years, I expect prices will drop again soon.

Our last day/night was spent in Vancouver, Washington – just across the bridge from the Portland airport. This also the home to Connecting Threads, in case you receive their quilting catalog in the mail. We thoroughly enjoyed dining out on the patio at the The Cove and walking the along the river trail. I also visited the lone quilt shop of our trip – Fiddlesticks Quilt Shop where I purchased all the fabric needed for the upcoming Giant Dahlia class with Michelle Yeo.

Are you familiar with The Country Register? It’s a national publication focusing on individual states or regions. A number of quilt shops, textile museums and craft events have printed copies available. I always like to pick up a copy whenever I travel. When browsing through the Oregon, Washington, Idaho edition, I noticed that Michelle Yeo is also teaching at a shop in Oregon the week after she’s with my guild in Atlanta. I didn’t fully appreciate how much my guild subsidizes the cost to bring teachers to us until I saw the fees to attend the same class in Oregon.

Make time to travel – it forces you outside your comfort zone and allows you to experience new sights, sounds and tastes that you probably won’t experience at home. Dining al fresco on the waterfront of the Columbia River and enjoying huckleberry jam on my toast are two things that come to mind. Well, a jar of huckleberry jam did make the trip home with me.