Tag: Travel

Quilty Travel Planning

May 14, 2025

Today was catch up on email day. An announcement in one of the newsletters for a quilt show in Charleston, SC next March caught my eye. Misty Doan will be teaching at this event (Cobblestone 2026 Celebration of Quilts, Textiles & Fiber Arts Show), so this one is definitely on my radar. It’s also within driving distance of Atlanta. On the potential 2026 quilt show/retreat list it goes as I’m looking for events closer to home. I enjoyed my spring retreat in Boise with the JK Quilts girls, but the travel costs associated with attending the retreat were really expensive this year.

How much will it potentially cost to attend the Charleston show for 3 days and 2 nights? I’m going to base my travel budget on what I spent at similar events in TN and NC. Charleston is a 5 hour drive from Atlanta. Gas: $75.00 This event has classes and lectures along with the show, so I’ll allow for two nights of hotel based on current rates at hotels near the venue. Accommodations: $300.00 Food: $100.00 Quilt show attendance, classes, lectures and souvenir shopping (a/k/a hitting the vendor booths): $150.00. My cost: $625.00 max for a 3 day/2 night quilting adventure. Costs can easily be lowered by not taking classes, bringing a friend and/or using credit card reward points to put towards gas, meals and hotel. Mind you, $625.00 is totally in line with fees for a lot of quilt retreats lasting 3-5 days.

Prefer an escorted tour?

Some of the quilt tour companies offer escorted tours of the low country focusing on Georgia and South Carolina. Yep, there’s already a tour advertised to take you to the Charleston show and shop hopping around the Palmetto state. The advertised cost is $1595 double occupancy or $1895 single occupancy. There’s a discount if you book by a certain date. Of course, I downloaded the trip brochure and checked out the quilt shops listed on the itinerary. This is a good way to discover quilt shops you might want to visit on your travels. I added one shop to my list to visit the next time I’m in upstate South Carolina.

Someone asked if I’m planning to attend QuiltCon 2026. No, as I attended the event in Raleigh in 2024

Photo by Sara Free on Pexels.com

Stitchy summer fun in the ATL

May 8, 2025

I was SEW excited to open my email and see this notice! It’s been five years since the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop disbanded. Many of those participating shops have gone out of business. Since then, Sadie and I have participated in the Middle Georgia Shop Hop every February. I also usually spend a 1/2 day at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo held every March.

It’s wonderful to see ten shops listed, six of which I’ve never visited. Sadie and I will have fun catching all the shops over a long weekend – including a stay at Grandma and Poppy’s given the majority of the shops are on that side of town.

FYI – two of the large quilting and sewing shops in the area are not part of this event – which makes sense as this is designed to promote the smaller shops in the region.

Here’s the event homepage, so you can get all the details.

Expanding our therapy dog visit reach

April 30, 2025

A while back, I posted that some fellow therapy dog teams who live north of me had decided to focus on visits in the far flung NW metro Atlanta suburbs. Sadie & I were invited to join them for events whenever we can. Since my own Tuesday R.E.A.D. kiddos are in the thick of standardized testing through May 6th, I’ve done exactly that.

Yesterday, our group visited with 7 first grade classes at a school in Cherokee County. Sadie & I will help out on another visit with fifth graders next Wednesday. Fortunately, the drive is a reverse commute, so these visits fall within my preferred 30 minute travel window – even if the distance is a bit farther. Distance-wise, it’s similar to other specialty events we attend around the metro area, minus the traffic hassles. I will say it was great to see some folks and dogs we haven’t seen in a while.

Until this year, all of our visits have been done under the umbrella of a local therapy dog group. Sadie has a logoed vest and I have several logoed tops to wear on visits. Now that we make visits independently and with another group, Big Girl and I need to add some generic therapy dog items to our visit wardrobes. My friend suggested a therapy dog harness/vest for Sadie, a therapy dog t-shirt/non-logo polo for me and some trading cards (minus any group logo) to hand out at events. He said this will make things easier, and a lot less expensive, for me. Wise advice.